Trump expected to issue pardons on last day as president while Senate set to reconvene

President Trump plans to spend his last day in office on Tuesday issuing 100 pardons or commutations, a senior administration official and a senior White House official tell 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 nominees.

It’s not yet known who Mr. Trump plans on pardoning, although one source said the president isn’t expected to pardon himself. 

Mr. Trump stayed out of the public eye on Monday, while first lady Melania Trump issued a farewell video. She did not directly reference the January 6 assault on the Capitol, but she did say, “Be passionate in 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 incoming president’s inauguration in more than 150 years.

With the military focused on protecting the inauguration, Mr. Trump will not get the large military honors he wanted for his sendoff. He instead will have a scaled-back sendoff at 8 a.m. Wednesday before he heads to Mar-a-Lago.

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

The FBI is also investigating the funding of the Capitol assault. Ninety people are facing federal charges, and that number is expected to go up as the FBI catches up to information sent into tip 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 Percenters.

On Tuesday, the Senate will be holding 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.