Nicole Gaudiano

USA TODAY

Sen. Bernie Sanders is laying the groundwork for his post-election activism.

The Vermont independent has been actively campaigning for his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton. But he makes clear in a Boston Globe op-ed published Friday that he’s ready to go head to head with the next administration, the day after the election, if it ignores the progressive causes he holds dear — from taking on powerful special interests to appointing cabinet officials who will “fight for working people.”

“This is a historic and pivotal moment in American history,” he wrote. “Now is the time for our next president to rally the American people against Wall Street and corporate greed and stand up vigorously for the declining middle class.”

Polls have shown the majority of Sanders’ supporters plan to vote for Clinton. But a tough primary battle has left hard feelings for some that have been hard to erase, particularly when internal campaign emails released by WikiLeaks revealed staff of the Democratic National Committee appearing to conspire against him during the primary. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida stepped down as DNC chairwoman as a result.

Additional hacked emails from the Clinton campaign revealed excerpts of her paid speeches to the financial sector in which she praised Wall Street executives and called the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law something that needed to pass “for political reasons.” During the primary, Sanders repeatedly called for her to release transcripts of the speeches.

In his op-ed, Sanders focused on the next administration’s appointments, calling for a Treasury secretary “who is prepared to take on the greed and illegal behavior of Wall Street, not someone who comes from Wall Street or will leave office to go to Wall Street.” He also wrote that the next trade representative needs to understand “our current trade policies have failed” and the new attorney general must be prepared to “vigorously enforce antitrust laws and prosecute bankers and corporate leaders who break the law.”

Sanders also wants to ensure the next administration adheres to the Democratic Platform that his supporters helped pass. Among those priorities are overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision allowing corporate campaign spending, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expanding Social Security, breaking up big banks, making public colleges and universities tuition-free for the middle class and rebuilding the country’s infrastructure.

"The day after the election, working with millions of grass-roots activists, I intend to do everything possible to make certain that the new president and Congress implement the Democratic platform, the most progressive agenda of any major political party in the history of the United States," he wrote.