President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden issued sweeping pardons that left both parties steamed and pointing fingers as to who pushed their pardon authority too far. In the minutes before his presidency ended on Monday,

A day that began with the outgoing president’s pardon of lawmakers and his own family ended with the incoming president’s pardon of supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol.

Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons are a valid use of pardon power. But they break new ground as a shield for those the president seeks to protect, scholars say.