Trump expected to pardon as president last day while the senate would reconvene

President Trump plans to spend his last full day in office on Tuesday and grant 100 pardons or commutations, a senior official and a senior White House official told CBS News. Meanwhile, the Senate will re-convene that day for the first time since the House impeached Mr Trump last week and will begin confirmation hearings for some of President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees.

It is not yet known who Mr Trump intends to pardon, although a source said the president is not expected to pardon himself.

Trump stayed out of the public eye on Monday, while first lady Melania Trump released a farewell video. She was not referring directly to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, but she did say, “Be passionate about everything you do, but always remember that violence is never the answer and will never be justified.”

In a break with tradition, Melania Trump did not give a tour to incoming first lady Jill Biden. The Trumps will be the first president and first lady to skip the president-to-be’s inauguration in more than 150 years.

With the military focused on protecting the inauguration, Mr. Trump will not receive the great military credit he wanted for his deployment. Instead, he’ll have a scaled-down broadcast at 8am on Wednesday before heading to Mar-a-Lago.

The Pentagon has authorized more than 25,000 National Guard troops to secure the inauguration, and the FBI is investigating all members of the Guard. The Chief of the National Guard’s Office, Daniel Hokanson, told CBS News’ David Martin that he is “absolutely not” concerned about the reliability of his troops.

The FBI is also investigating funding for the Capitol bombing. Ninety people are facing federal charges, and that number is expected to increase as the FBI catches up with the information sent through tip lines.

Charges were also announced against a person allegedly associated with the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government group, and against the Three Percenters militia.

On Tuesday, the Senate will hold confirmation hearings for five key cabinet nominees: Janet Yellen at Treasury, Antony Blinken at State, Lloyd Austin at Defense, Alejandro Mayorkas at Homeland Security, and Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence.