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.

The outgoing president acted to short-circuit incoming President Trump’s stated plans to exact retribution from perceived enemies.

U.S. President Joe Biden has pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and retired general Mark Milley, to guard against potential retaliation by the incoming Donald Trump administration.