The White House held a meeting on Sunday to finalize the list of pardons, two sources said.
Trump, who had been deploying pardons and commuting at a steady pace before Christmas, had paused them in the days leading up to and immediately after the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, according to officials.
Aides said Trump focused singularly on the Electoral College count in the previous days, which prevented him from making final decisions on pardons. White House officials had expected them to resume after Jan. 6, but Trump withdrew after he was accused of inciting riots.
Initially, two major batches had been ready to roll out, one late last week and another on Tuesday. Now, officials expect the last batch to be the only one, unless Trump decides at the last minute to grant pardons to controversial allies, members of his family or himself.
The final batch of clemency actions is expected to include a mix of pardons for criminal justice reform and more controversial ones, guaranteed or handed out by political allies.
Pardons are one of several things Trump must complete before his presidency ends in days. White House officials have also prepared executive orders, and the president continues to hope to declassify information related to Russia’s investigation before leaving office. But with a decrease in the number of government officials still holding jobs, the likelihood of something being done seemed to decrease.
The January 6 riots that led to Trump’s second ouster have complicated his desire to pardon himself, his children and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. At this point, aides don’t think he will, but with caution only Trump knows what he will do with his last piece of presidential power before he officially leaves office on Jan. 20 at noon.
After the riots, advisers encouraged Trump to give up the car because he appeared to be guilty of something, according to a person familiar with the talks. Several of Trump’s closest advisers have also urged him not to grant clemency to anyone involved in the siege of the U.S. Capitol, despite Trump’s initial stance that those involved had done nothing wrong.
“There are a lot of people urging the president to forgive the people” involved in the insurgency, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Trump’s ally, told Fox News on Sunday. “Apologizing for these people would be wrong.”
A White House official said no formal self-referral procedures had been prepared.
Still, Trump is expected to leave the White House on Jan. 20 and could issue pardons until noon on the day of the inauguration.
It is also unknown whether Trump’s former adviser, Steve Bannon, will receive a pardon.
Trump continues to receive multiple streams of referrals on pardons from advisers who remain in the White House, as well as from people outside the building who have been pushing for them or their clients for months.
The expectation among allies is that Trump will issue pardons that could benefit the presidency.
“Everything is a transaction. He likes pardons because they are one-sided. And he likes to do favors to people he thinks will owe him,” said a source familiar with the matter.
Within the White House, there has been a struggle to seek pardons on behalf of allies and advocacy groups can be added and names could be added until the last minute, according to sources.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.