Key Takeaways:
- Donald Trump’s potential actions upon returning to the White House will be categorized into four baskets: the Midnight Judges Basket, the Nominations Basket, the Day One Basket, and the Longer Term Basket.
- The Midnight Judges Basket will revolve around what potential outgoing President Biden might do, including pardons, clemency, and shifts in regulations and policies.
- The Nominations Basket speaks to the people Trump intends to place in his cabinet and their struggles getting approved.
- The Day One Basket focuses on Trump’s immediate actions, possibly reversing Biden’s policies.
- The Longer-Term Basket pertains to intricate legislative matters like NATO memberships or loyalty oaths for governmental civil servants.
Trump’s Potential Actions on Return
If Donald Trump returns to the White House, legal analyst Benjamin Wittes believes he will take four categories of action. Let’s look at them in detail.
The Midnight Judges Basket
This basket is all about what President Joe Biden might do before leaving the White House. The list of possibilities is vast: Biden could pardon people or give them clemency. He might even start changing regulations and policies to make it hard for the next administration (possibly Trump) to undo them. Basically, Biden could alter the landscape before stepping aside.
The Nominations Basket
When Trump was in power, he promised supporters that they would be included in his Cabinet. The Nominations Basket is all about those appointments – people whom Trump promised would hold positions in his government.
There’s a long list of names: Pam Bondi might be the attorney general. Kash Patel could become the FBI director. Will Robert F. Kennedy Jr. take over health services? Might Tulsi Gabbard be the director of national intelligence? And is Pete Hegseth the new defense secretary?
But here’s the catch. Many of these nominees face a steep climb to approval. Senators might like Trump, but would they really support all of his appointments? Wittes compared the Senate’s approach to a dimmer switch, not a straightforward on or off.
The Day One Basket
This part is all about Trump’s first day in office. What can he decide and implement immediately? The first week of his return could see a flurry of executive orders as Trump sets about implementing new policies or reversing Biden’s.
There could be big changes, fast. Deportation, tariffs, Ukraine funding – these issues could all face drastic shifts in the early days. Even pardons of Jan. 6 defendants might occur. But let’s not forget, while these executive orders may sound impactful, they might not actually make material changes.
The Longer-Term Basket
Finally, we get to the Longer-Term Basket. This one focuses on the actions that would take a year, maybe longer, to unfold. These are the ambitious steps that Trump’s allies say are on his to-do list. And they could result in some major shake-ups.
Government civil servants might be asked to pledge loyalty to Trump, and those who refuse might lose their jobs. Foreign relations could be affected too, with Trump potentially distancing the country from NATO and other international bodies.
Conclusion
To sum it up, if Trump returns to the White House, he might have a plan involving a mix of short and long-term changes. It’s essential for Americans to be aware of these potential actions. As we’ve learned, what happens in the White House can have lasting implications, so everyone should keep an eye on Trump’s four baskets.