The issue of reforming presidential pardon power has been percolating for decades, but it came to a head at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. In his final days in office, Trump granted pardons to nearly 150 individuals, many of whom had close ties to the former president. The power of the presidential pardon was written into the Constitution as a safeguard against judicial decisions later deemed too harsh. It allows the president to grant clemency to individuals charged with federal crimes without seeking approval from other branches of government. The pardons are not subject to override. However, they do…

In one of his first acts in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order revoking the construction permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have routed approximately 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada to Nebraska on its way to Gulf Coast refineries. Biden’s move — the latest development for a project that has become a flashpoint for the climate change debate — was applauded by environmentalists and American Indian groups but sparked objections from the oil industry. The controversial project has spanned multiple presidential administrations. Former President George W. Bush approved the original Keystone pipeline,…