Kyle Cheney: Breaking: Fed Judge determines Trump admin violating order lifting blanket freeze on fed grant programs

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15. Pardon Power

Actually, the president can pardon someone for civil contempt charges, but there are limits.

The U.S. Constitution grants the president broad pardon powers for federal offenses (Article II, Section 2). Civil contempt can sometimes be considered a federal offense, especially if it’s linked to a federal court order. However, if the contempt charge is coercive (meant to force compliance, like refusing to testify), a pardon might not immediately free the person—courts could reframe the punishment to continue enforcing compliance.

In contrast, state-level civil contempt is outside the president’s pardon power. Governors handle pardons for state cases.

So, while there are nuances, the president does have the ability to pardon civil contempt in many cases, particularly at the federal level.