HR 4411 — Ban on Inkless Directives and Executive Notarizations Act of 2025

Summary

Requires that only the President may personally sign engrossed bills, Executive orders, pardons, and commutations.
Prohibits the use of automatic signing devices, such as autopens, for signing engrossed bills, Executive orders, pardons, and commutations.
Invalidates any engrossed bills, Executive orders, pardons, or commutations signed in violation of these requirements, including those signed prior to enactment.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Rep. McDowell, Addison P. (R-NC) [#6]

6 cosponsors

Rep. Collins, Mike (R-GA) [#10]
Rep. Hageman, Harriet M. (R-WY) [At-large]
Rep. Luna, Anna Paulina (R-FL) [#13]
Rep. Onder, Robert F. (R-MO) [#3]
Rep. Taylor, David J. (R-OH) [#2]
Rep. Van Orden, Derrick (R-WI) [#3]

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to Addison P. Mcdowell’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

VETERANS GUARDIAN $16,500
KOTIS PROPERTIES $9,097
CHECKMATE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS $8,800
CONTINUUM CARE SERVICES $7,000
UTC $6,735

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Addison P. Mcdowell → · Outside spending →

Actions (2)

Jul 15, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
Jul 15, 2025 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Text versions (1)

Introduced in House · Jul 15, 2025

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 15, 2025

Mr. McDowell (for himself, Mrs. Luna, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Van Orden, Ms. Hageman, Mr. Onder, and Mr. Collins) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 3, United States Code, to clarify that certain Presidential functions may not be delegated or carried out using any automated equipment.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Ban on Inkless Directives and Executive Notarizations Act of 2025”.

SEC. 2. NO DELEGATION OR USE OF AUTOPEN.

Section 301 of title 3, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “Notwithstanding this section or any other provision of law, no person other than the President may lawfully sign an engrossed bill, Executive order, or pardon or commutation, nor may automatic signing device, including an autopen, be used for such purpose.”.

SEC. 3. RULE REGARDING PRIOR ACTIONS.

No engrossed bill, Executive order, or pardon or commutation that was signed in violation of section 301 of title 3, United States Code, including any such an engrossed bill, Executive order, or pardon or commutation signed prior to the effective date of this Act, may be considered to have any force or effect. <all>

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