It's unclear who'll take over at the Pentagon and the military services when the top leaders all step down Monday as President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office.

Finally, there’s some accountability in the swamp. The Washington, D.C., blob loves to protect its own. It’s a slimy hierarchy based not on merit but fealty to the system and promotes its loyal servants to higher and higher ranks,

Gen. Mark Milley, the now-retired former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, commented on the pardon he received in Biden's final hours in office.

Joe Biden came into office promising to be the next FDR. Instead, his presidency of empty gestures and moral failures has given us something far more dangerous: a reinvigorated Donald Trump armed with a popular mandate and a drive for retribution.

The president’s statement, coming days before he is replaced by Republican Donald Trump, will probably not have any impact.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs ... ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden issued pre-emptive pardons on Monday for people Republican successor Donald Trump has targeted for retaliation, including former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and former White House chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci.

Speaking at the Capitol after his swearing-in, Trump questioned Biden's pardons of Cheney and Milley, referring to "pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the unselect committee of political thugs."

Outgoing President Joe Biden’s latest decision to issue preemptive pardons may infuriate people on both sides of the aisle.

U.S. President Joe Biden issued pre-emptive pardons on Monday for people Republican successor Donald Trump has targeted for retaliation, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and former White House chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci.

Joe Biden, in one of his final acts as president, pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, in an extraordinary use of executive power to guard against potential ''revenge'' by the new Trump administration.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is bidding farewell to the forces and personnel he's led through a tumultuous term.