HONOLULU (AP) – His last presidential vacation behind him, Barack Obama is entering the closing stretch of his term, an eleventh-hour push to tie up loose ends and put finishing touches on his legacy before handing the reins to President-elect Donald Trump.
Obama returns to Washington at midday Monday from Hawaii with less than three weeks remaining in his presidency. His final days in office will largely be consumed by a bid to protect his endangered health care law, a major farewell speech and the ongoing handover of power to Trump.
His speech planned for his hometown of Chicago, on Jan. 10 is expected to be his closing message to the nation, and will be open to the public, according to a notice sent to Obama alumni and obtained by The Associated Press. The trip will likely be Obama’s last outside Washington as president and will include a “family reunion” for Obama’s former campaign staffers.
Obama is also planning last-minute commutations and pardons, White House officials said, in line with his second-term effort to cut sentences for inmates given unduly harsh sentences for drug crimes. Though prominent offenders like former government contractor Edward Snowden and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich are also asking for leniency, Obama’s final acts of clemency are expected to continue to focus on drug offenders whose plight he tried – but failed – to address through criminal justice reform.
After taking office eight years ago, Obama and his aides were effusive in their praise for how Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, helped his team take over the massive bureaucracy that is the federal government. Obama has vowed to pass on the favor to Trump.