Senate holds hearings for 5 candidates for Biden on Trump’s last full day in office

Washington – The Senate is holding confirmation hearings for five of President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet candidates on Tuesday, as Democrats rush to endorse key officials shortly after Mr. Biden became president on Wednesday.

Senators met for the first time since Mr. Trump was impeached for the second time. They are holding confirmation hearings for five crucial candidates: Janet Yellen at the Treasury, Antony Blinken at the State, Lloyd Austin at the Defense, Alejandro mayorkas at Homeland Security and Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence.

Mr Biden plans to arrive in Washington on Tuesday afternoon and attend a ceremony honoring COVID-19 victims at the Lincoln Memorial in the evening.

Hearings take place on President Trump’s last full day. It is expected to issue 100 pardons or commutations within its president’s final hours, a senior administration official and a senior White House official told CBS News.

It is not yet clear who Mr. Trump plans to forgive, although a source has said the president should not forgive himself.

Mr. Trump remained out of public view on Monday, while First Lady Melania Trump posted a farewell video. She did not directly refer to the Jan.6 assault on Capitol Hill, but said, “Be passionate in whatever you do, but always remember that violence is never the answer and will never be. never justified.

Breaking with tradition, Melania Trump has not paid incoming first lady Jill Biden a visit, and the Trumps will be the first president and the first lady to skip the inauguration of the new president. in more than 150 years.

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

With the military focused on protecting the inauguration, Mr. Trump will not get the high military honors he wanted for his expulsion. Instead, it will have a reduced start to 8 a.m. on Wednesday before heading to Mar-a-Lago.