Several prominent Republicans praised President Joe Biden‘s decision Thursday to pardon the thousands of people who have been convicted of federal simple marijuana possession offenses.
In a tweet, Biden said there are “thousands of people who were previously convicted of simple possession who may be denied employment, housing, or educational opportunities as a result. My pardon will remove this burden.”
In a tweet on Thursday, Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, said: “Applaud the Administration for their necessary big step forward in bringing justice to so many.”
Mace further praised Biden for the decision during an interview with Fox Business on Thursday. “I want to give credit where credit is due. I don’t always agree with the Biden administration, I’ve been very vocal about that,” she said. “But this is a step in the right direction…I applaud the president.”
Alexi Rosenfeld
Ohio Representative Dave Joyce tweeted that the White House’s announcement “recognizes two truths: Federal cannabis prohibition is no longer the will of the American pple, @POTUS knows his party’s all-or-nothing approach to cannabis reform has failed to produce results in Congress.”
In a statement, Joyce, who is a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, also commended Biden’s “recognition of the need for state and local level expungement efforts.”
Applaud the Administration for their necessary big step forward in bringing justice to so many. #Cannabis #SRA 👏🍃🔥
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) October 6, 2022
“The bulk of petty, non-violent cannabis convictions take place at the state and local level, so to truly remedy the unjust war on cannabis, we must start there and vacate antiquated offenses that are no longer even considered a crime,” Joyce said.
Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who was one of three Republicans to vote for a bill in April to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, tweeted: “The @WhiteHouse is finally taking my advice. I called out Sleepy Joe months ago! Now it’s time to do what you said you would do and DECRIMINALIZE!”
Gaetz’s tweet included a video from April in which he called on Biden to take action to decriminalize cannabis.
“I’m here to remind you and Kamala [Harris]: you’re missing a critical moment for a policy accomplishment. Do what you said you would do, and by the stroke of the president’s pen, we could have substantial marijuana reform in this country,” the congressman said in the video.
A representative for Gaetz referred Newsweek to the tweet when contacted for comment.
Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman who left the party in 2020, tweeted: “Let’s quit messing around. Marijuana should be legalized nationwide. Just do it.”
Several U.S. governors also applauded Biden’s move on Thursday.
“Thrilled to see @POTUS follow Colorado’s lead – 2 years ago, I took bold action to clean up past inequities by pardoning convictions for Coloradans who possessed a small amount of cannabis,” Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis tweeted. “Today’s federal action will change people’s lives and not block their success.”
While some Republicans have welcomed the cannabis pardons, others have criticized Biden over them.
California Representative Tom McClintock, one of the three members of the GOP to vote for the cannabis decriminalization bill, told Newsweek in a statement that he supports legislation to “decriminalize simple possession of marijuana, but the law is not in Joe Biden’s mouth.”
“Our Constitution commands the President to faithfully execute the law. All legislative powers are vested in the Congress. He does not get to choose which laws to enforce and which to ignore,” McClintock said.
“The blanket pardon he has announced seizes a hitherto unimagined power to nullify any laws that displease him at whim. This is the definition of despotism, and a direct challenge to the constitutional order of our society,” he added.
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said the Department of Justice “should not issue blanket pardons but each case should be looked at individually.”
“As Governor I have issued hundreds of pardons to those who have been convicted of drug offenses. But in this time of rising crime, there should be a clear record of law-abiding conduct before pardons are issued,” Hutchinson said in a statement.
Newsweek reached out to Mace, Joyce and several Republicans who have previously supported marijuana legalization for comment.
