DR. ERIC GOLDBERG: Hi, I'm Dr. Eric Goldberg from West Palm Beach, Florida. And I'd like to ask CNN if there is any mechanism in place for the Untied States Congress to overturn a presidential pardon?</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The founding fathers, at the beginning of the United States' existence, put a section into the Constitution, Section 2, giving the president absolute power to pardon without any checks by anybody, except in matters of impeachment. Ever since then, there have been sporadic controversies, where one pardon or another has caused an outcry and caused members of Congress to say there should be limits. The Marc Rich pardon has inspired Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, to recommend that Congress have six months, 180 days, from the issuance of a pardon to rescind it. It would take a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate before that could happen. This is not given much of a chance of passage because the Constitution also specified very, very difficult procedures for it to be amended. And most people believe that this controversy will die down long before the procedures would have been accomplished.
Ask CNN: Is There Any Mechanism in Place For The Us Congress To Overturn A Presidential Pardon?