Trump expected to issue pardons on last day as president as Senate prepares to meet

President Trump plans to spend his last full day in power on Tuesday granting 100 pardons or commutations, a senior administration official and senior White House official told CBS News. Meanwhile, the Senate will reconvene 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 candidates.

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 did say, “Be passionate in everything you do, but always remember that violence is never the answer and never will never be justified.

Breaking with tradition, Melania Trump did not pay incoming first lady Jill Biden a visit. Les Atouts will be the first president and the first lady to skip the inauguration of the new president for more than 150 years.

With the military focused on protecting the inauguration, Mr. Trump will not get the top military honors he wanted for his departure. Instead, it will have a reduced start to 8 a.m. 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 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.

The FBI is also investigating funding for the assault on Capitol Hill. Ninety people face federal charges, and that number is expected to rise as the FBI catches up with information sent over the intelligence lines.

Charges were also announced against a person allegedly affiliated with the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government group, as well as the militia group the Three Percent.

On Tuesday, the Senate will hold confirmation hearings for five top Cabinet candidates: 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.