[Donald Trump is gearing up to take office seven days before his return to the Oval Office, while Joe Biden is seeking last-ditch hostage deals as his administration says goodbye in its final week.
A flurry of Senate confirmation hearings for Trump’s Cabinet picks, starting on Tuesday, will highlight the president-elect’s aggressive efforts to exert swift and transformative power after taking the oath of office on January 20. Trump will also make fresh efforts this week to cement his agenda of disruption through the narrowly divided House and Senate.
Biden, 82, will deliver his farewell speech from the Oval Office on Wednesday in his first such address since he told Americans he wouldn’t run for re-election in July after a disastrous debate exposed his diminished capacity. The outgoing administration is still hopeful for a deal to free US and Israeli hostages in Gaza, and Biden is also pushing the Taliban for the release of three Americans the US considers unjustly held in Afghanistan.
The president is also considering whether to grant preemptive pardons to individuals the White House believes may be targeted by the next president’s retribution, such as former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the president-elect’s most prominent GOP critics. Biden said Friday he was watching Trump’s rhetoric to assess his intentions, at a time when the departing president is using his appearances to try to shape last-minute adjustments to his historical legacy.
Meanwhile, the already tense transition, complicated by the acrimonious relationship between Trump and Biden, will be further overshadowed by the devastating wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area and killed at least 24 people.
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