As Donald Trump prepares for a potential return to the White House, legal analyst Benjamin Wittes outlined four key activities Americans should watch for in a column published Thursday for Lawfare. Wittes categorized these activities into four “baskets”: the Midnight Judges Basket, the Nominations Basket, the Day One Basket, and the Longer Term Basket.
Wittes emphasized that the least important issue is what President Joe Biden might do during his final days in office, referring to this as the “Midnight Judges Basket.” This could include pardons, clemency, and “regulatory actions and policy shifts designed to make it harder for the new administration to make its own changes.”
However, Wittes suggested that the real focus should be on what Trump will do upon returning to office. The “Nominations Basket” involves Trump’s promises to reward his loyal supporters with key Cabinet positions.
Wittes highlighted that nominees like Pam Bondi for attorney general, Kash Patel for FBI director, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, and Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense could face significant challenges during their confirmation processes.
“How they comport themselves before the Senate, what questions they face, what answers they give, and how the Senate reacts to them is not mere noise,” Wittes wrote. He added that the Senate’s response will reveal the degree of loyalty they are willing to offer Trump.
The “Day One Basket” refers to Trump’s potential actions on his first day in office. Wittes predicts that Trump will issue a series of executive orders aimed at reversing Biden’s policies, such as mass deportations, tariffs, and potentially pardoning January 6 defendants.
“An executive order declaring that we are only doing America First trade now may be dressed up as policy, but it may not actually do anything,” Wittes explained. Finally, the “Longer-Term Basket” includes actions that could unfold over the course of Trump’s term. Wittes noted that Trump’s allies have discussed potential plans such as firing all government civil servants who refuse to sign a loyalty oath or even withdrawing from NATO and other international alliances.
“Think of this basket as the major disruptions that will take a year or more to mature,” Wittes said, pointing out that these changes would depend heavily on key figures within Trump’s administration and their influence on foreign relations.