“If President Trump is on his way out the door, he’ll have almost limitless power to reward his friends, settle scores and stack boards and commissions with his allies during his final days in office. After defeat, there are no constraints on ordinary presidential powers between the election and the inauguration. Trump has shown a willingness to stretch the norms of what has been done and what can be done. So expect him to go out the way he came in.”
“Executive clemency: Presidents can wipe away or minimize past offenses with pardons, commutations, remissions or reprieves — like when Bill Clinton pardoned donor Marc Rich despite indictments over tax evasion and wire fraud. ‘Burrowing in’: Presidents can convert political appointees to career employees, and under certain circumstances, presidents can make recess appointments so personnel can serve into the succeeding administration. ‘Midnight rulemaking’: Outgoing presidents often rush to finalize the rules that administrations write to enact laws passed by Congress. Don’t forget: Trump can still fire people — and as Axios’ Jonathan Swan and Alayna Treene have reported, he was already planning to push out FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Gina Haspel and Defense Secretary Mark Esper if he got a second term” – Axios.