WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday 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 the powers of the presidency in his final hours to guard against potential “revenge” by the incoming Trump administration.

"My family and I are deeply grateful for the President's action today," Milley said in a statement to USA Today provided by a spokesperson.

Original reporting and analysis straight from Washington to your inbox from the Daily Beast’s free political newsletter.

Former President Biden’s preemptive pardon for retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will give the retired military official a shield against any action that President Trump might take against him amid their highly public feud.

The Pentagon on Monday removed the portrait of Mark Milley, the retired Army general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to two Reuters witnesses, in a move that happened within two hours of President Donald Trump's inauguration.

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.

President Joe Biden has sparked fury after issuing preemptive pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark A. Milley and the members of Congress who served on the House January 6 X Select Committee.

A portrait of retired Gen. Mark Milley, a target of President Donald Trump's wrath, disappeared from a Pentagon hallway hours after the inauguration.

Former President Joe Biden greeted President Donald Trump at the White House in advance of Monday’s inauguration with a conciliatory gesture, telling him and first lady Melania Trump: “Welcome home.” Trump ended his first day back in that home by posting a sneering message boasting of how his team was hunting down hundreds of Biden appointees to throw out of office.

Trump said Tuesday his administration is in the process of “identifying and removing” more than 1,000 Biden appointees.

The portrait of retired Gen. Mark Milley, who served as the 20th chairman of the joint staff from 2019-2023, was unveiled earlier this month.