On September 3, 2026, the President granted clemency in 29 federal cases. The Office of the Pardon Attorney lists that day as 23 pardons and 6 commutations. The list records decisions already made. It does not set a rule for a petition that is still waiting.
What the September 3 list contains
The public table puts all 29 grants under one heading and does not mark each row as a pardon or a commutation. Each name is tied to a warrant on the grants page for President Trump, 2025 to the present. That page shows an update date of October 20, 2026. Read the warrant before you treat any one grant as a pardon rather than a commutation. The table also does not say who filed a petition, or whether the Department recommended the grant.
Counted from the offense column, the 29 rows group this way:
- Eleven are Clean Air Act cases, including tampering, conspiracy, and accessory. Sentencing dates in this group run from 2022 through May 16, 2025.
- Seven are drug conspiracies, involving methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, or another controlled substance. Six of those sentences were 10 years or longer, from 120 months to 360 months. One of the seven also includes possessing a firearm during a drug crime.
- Five other rows are firearms cases: an unregistered firearm, a machine gun, a destructive device, an unregistered silencer, or selling ammunition to a prohibited person.
- Three are counterfeiting cases, sentenced from January 1996 through July 2005.
- One is labor-union embezzlement and fraud, with a 72-month sentence imposed in July 2024.
- One is bank embezzlement, sentenced in April 2002.
- One is a money-laundering conspiracy, sentenced in December 2013.
The oldest sentencing date on the table is December 14, 1995. The newest is May 16, 2025. Some sentences were probation or a fine. Others were long prison terms.
Pardon, commutation, or remission
A pardon is forgiveness for a federal offense. The Pardon Attorney's FAQ says it can remove civil disabilities from that conviction, such as limits on voting, holding state or local office, or jury service. It does not mean the person was innocent, and it does not erase the conviction.
A commutation reduces a sentence that is still being served. It leaves the conviction in place, does not restore those civil rights, and does not change immigration status.
Remission is separate. It releases the unpaid part of a fine or restitution. The rules list it with pardon, reprieve, and commutation (28 C.F.R. § 1.1). The September 3 heading does not mention remission. Money already paid is outside it, as explained in whether a pardon refunds a fine.
The power is in Article II, Section 2, and it covers offenses against the United States (U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 1). It does not cover a state conviction. The side-by-side is on pardon versus commutation.
Who may petition, and when
A petition is addressed to the President. In the ordinary case it goes to the Pardon Attorney (28 C.F.R. § 1.1). A court-martial petition goes to the Secretary of the military department.
The pardon rule says not to file until five years after release from confinement, or five years after the conviction if there was no prison sentence. A pardon petition generally should not be filed during probation, parole, or supervised release (28 C.F.R. § 1.2). Several people on the September 3 table were sentenced only to probation in 2024 or 2025. That does not rewrite the rule. The regulations are advisory and do not bind the President (28 C.F.R. § 1.11).
A commutation is for a sentence still being served. The Justice Manual says the Department generally does not accept one until service has begun, or while a court challenge is pending (Justice Manual 9-140.113). Do not file, including for remission of a fine, when another judicial or administrative remedy is open, except in exceptional circumstances (28 C.F.R. § 1.3). The warrant rule mentions people on supervised release (28 C.F.R. § 1.7), because a commutation can reach what is left of a sentence after prison. That is not a pardon filed early.
What happens to the petition
The two forms are on Apply for Clemency. The pardon application in use is the May 2024 form. The commutation petition is the December 2023 form. A lawyer is not required. The Department investigates as it sees fit, which can include an FBI check, and the Attorney General sends a written recommendation (28 C.F.R. § 1.6). There is no hearing. The President decides. The Office of the Pardon Attorney prepares the file. See the pardon process and the commutation guide.
After a denied pardon, a person may reapply in 24 months. After a denied commutation, the wait is 12 months. If a President leaves office without acting, the FAQ says the petition stays open. Do not file a second copy of a pending petition. Add new papers to the open file, and check the clemency case locator.
Letters and other support
Justice Manual 9-140.112 looks, for a pardon, at conduct after the conviction, the seriousness of the offense, acceptance of responsibility, and what the prosecutor and the sentencing judge say. The May 2024 application asks for at least three character references. The three primary references cannot be related to the applicant by blood or marriage (pardon application). How to write a clemency letter covers the contents.
A commutation file is about the sentence. The Justice Manual treats a large gap with similar cases, serious illness or advanced age, and unrewarded help to the government as traditional reasons. A person in Bureau of Prisons custody can ask staff for the presentence report, the judgment, and a recent progress report. The FAQ says anyone may send written material. Send copies, not a link to a shared drive. The clemency rules collect the regulations.
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