Yes, the president can pardon someone convicted of treason. The Constitution’s pardon power reaches every federal offense except impeachment, and treason is a federal crime. The framers debated carving treason out of the pardon power and rejected the idea. Presidents have exercised the power for treason in practice, beginning with George Washington after the Whiskey Rebellion.
Why Treason Falls Within the Pardon Power
Article II, Section 2 gives the president the “Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”1Legal Information Institute (LII). Scope of the Pardon Power The Supreme Court confirmed in Ex parte Garland (1866) that the power is “unlimited” and “extends to every offence known to the law.”2Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Ex parte Garland, 71 U.S. 333 (1866)
Treason is defined by Article III, Section 3 as waging war against the United States or adhering to its enemies and giving them aid and comfort.3Legal Information Institute (LII). Treason Clause – Doctrine and Practice Because it is a federal criminal offense rather than an impeachment proceeding, it clears both requirements of the pardon clause.
A pardon can come at any point after the offense. It does not require a conviction, an indictment, or even formal charges, and a president can act before prosecution begins, during a pending case, or years after sentencing.4Constitution Annotated. Overview of Pardon Power What a president cannot do is pardon conduct that has not yet occurred.
The Framers Made This Choice on Purpose
At the Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph argued that letting the president pardon treason was “too great a trust,” warning that traitors could be the president’s “own instruments.”5Legal Information Institute (LII). Historical Background on Pardon Power His motion to carve treason out of the pardon power lost 8–2.
Alexander Hamilton defended the outcome in Federalist No. 74 with a practical argument. During a rebellion, he wrote, there are “critical moments, when a well timed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquillity of the commonwealth.” Waiting for legislative approval would waste those moments. The pardon, in Hamilton’s view, was a tool for ending conflicts, and restricting it to exclude treason would have gutted the power in the exact scenario where it mattered most.
What a Treason Pardon Actually Does
A full pardon does more than end punishment. The Supreme Court has said a pardon “blots out of existence the guilt, so that in the eye of the law the offender is as innocent as if he had never committed the offence.”6Constitution Annotated. Legal Effect of a Pardon Civil rights lost through conviction, including the right to vote, hold office, and serve on a jury, are restored.
That last piece matters for treason specifically. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2381, a treason conviction carries death or at least five years in prison, a mandatory minimum fine of $10,000, and a permanent bar on holding any federal office.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2381 – Treason A full pardon lifts the office bar along with the criminal penalties.
Some things a pardon does not touch. Property or money already paid into the federal treasury or transferred to a third party with vested rights generally cannot be recovered through a pardon.6Constitution Annotated. Legal Effect of a Pardon Civil lawsuits are also untouched. If the treasonous conduct caused private harm and produced a damages judgment, the pardon leaves that obligation in place.
A pardon is also distinct from a commutation, which reduces a sentence but leaves the conviction and its collateral consequences intact. Amnesty is a pardon applied to a group rather than to an individual, which is how Andrew Johnson framed his post-Civil War proclamations.
Presidents Who Have Pardoned Treason
The power has been used. After the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania, two men, John Mitchell and Philip Weigel, were convicted of treason for their part in the armed revolt against a federal whiskey tax. President Washington pardoned both. He followed up with a proclamation granting “a full, free, and entire pardon” for all treasons committed during the rebellion in the affected region, excluding only those who had been indicted and refused to pledge obedience to federal law.8The American Presidency Project. Proclamation Granting Pardon to Certain Persons Formerly Engaged in Violence and Obstruction of Justice in Protest of Liquor Laws in Pennsylvania
President Andrew Johnson used the power on a far larger scale after the Civil War. On Christmas Day 1868, he issued Proclamation 179, granting “full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States during the late Civil War” to essentially all former Confederates.9The American Presidency Project. Proclamation 179 – Granting Full Pardon and Amnesty for the Offense of Treason Against the United States During the Late Civil War Both examples track Hamilton’s logic: clemency deployed to close a chapter of national conflict.
The Limits on the Pardon Power
The power is broad, but not unlimited. Three lines matter:
- The president cannot pardon impeachment. That is the only exception written into the pardon clause itself.1Legal Information Institute (LII). Scope of the Pardon Power
- Only federal offenses are covered. The phrase “Offences against the United States” excludes state crimes, which are the domain of governors and state clemency boards.4Constitution Annotated. Overview of Pardon Power
- Civil liability is outside the power. A pardon reaches criminal penalties, not debts to private parties.
Treason is not on that list. The framers considered adding it and voted no.
Can a President Pardon Themselves for Treason?
This is the version of the question courts have never answered, and scholars disagree.10Constitution Annotated. Presidential Self-Pardons The textual argument in favor is straightforward: the Constitution does not restrict pardons to third parties, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly described the power in sweeping terms.
The argument against rests on a basic legal principle. In August 1974, days before President Nixon resigned, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that “under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself.”11U.S. Department of Justice. Presidential or Legislative Pardon of the President That memo also floated a workaround: the president could temporarily transfer power to the vice president under the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, and the vice president, acting as president, could then issue the pardon.
No court has resolved the question. If a president ever attempted a self-pardon for treason, it would almost certainly end up in the Supreme Court.
State Treason Is a Different Matter
The president’s authority stops at the federal line. Many states have their own treason statutes, and a state treason conviction can only be pardoned through state clemency channels. Roughly a dozen states, including New York, Ohio, Florida, and Arizona, specifically bar their governors from pardoning treason at all, leaving that power to the legislature or requiring legislative consent. Texas allows a governor’s treason pardon only with the advice and consent of the state legislature. Vermont permits reprieves for treason but no pardon until after the next legislative session.
Even where the pardon power exists for treason, the crime tends to be singled out for extra procedural safeguards. At the federal level, though, the constitutional answer is settled: the president can pardon it, and presidents have.