Tom Nichols, a conservative former War College professor and one-time Republican, believes the United States could move quickly to eliminate the president's pardon power or alter it in fundamental ways.

His comment came in response to a Washington Sun report published Saturday morning stating that President Donald Trump's administration is weighing a blanket pardon for all junior staff should Democrats take over the House of Representatives after the Nov. 3 elections.

According to the report, lawyers hope such a blanket pardon could shield lower-ranking staff from prosecution. Yet Congress does not prosecute anyone; that authority rests with the Justice Department, which is led by Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer. It remains unclear, then, why the staff would need the pardons. The pardon power itself comes from Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, which allows the president to grant "Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment" — a scope that reaches only federal offenses and cannot block impeachment proceedings.

Trump addressed the matter earlier this month. "Because these people are lunatics on the, on the left — I don't want to see people that work for me go through years of nonsense, hire lawyers and everything else, all for nothing," he said.

Nichols responded to the report: "I am always against monkeying around with the Constitution, but if Trump does this and links it to policy areas, then it really is time to change or eliminate the pardon power, which was never supposed to be used as a blanket shield for preventing accountability." Any such change would run through Article V, which requires a constitutional amendment — two-thirds majorities in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states.

It remains unclear whether Trump allies or anyone in the administration has sold pardons, but such schemes have repeatedly brought down state leaders in the past.

The most famous case unfolded in Tennessee under Gov. Ray Blanton, although his criminal conviction ultimately concerned selling liquor licenses rather than pardons. In December 1978, federal investigators arrested three state employees, including two members of Blanton's own legal staff, on charges involving the sale of pardons, paroles and sentence commutations. The most egregious episode came on Jan. 15, 1979, when Blanton granted clemency to 52 prisoners, including convicted murderers. Fearing additional releases, state officials arranged for incoming Gov. Lamar Alexander to take office three days early, ending Blanton's authority to grant further clemency.

In Oklahoma, former Gov. Jack Walton was impeached and removed from office in November 1923 amid allegations that included selling pardons and paroles. The state Senate convicted him of abusing his clemency powers, among other offenses, though he was acquitted of bribery accusations.

Louisiana's scandal centered not on its governor but on Howard Marsellus, chairman of the state's pardon and parole board, who was found guilty of selling his votes in clemency decisions and sentenced to five years in federal prison.

Several congressional Democrats have signaled they intend to investigate the administration's pardons. Reps. Dave Min (D-Calif.), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), along with Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), have each indicated they want to examine the matter. Some have already launched inquiries, while others are preparing for a possible takeover in January.

Garcia said "our top issues" at the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will be "Trump corruption and Trump family corruption. Everything to do from the crypto scheme to pay-to-play, selling pardons, obviously the Trump family cutting real estate deals, the defense contracts."