Obama returns to Washington: Protecting healthcare law on the closing stretch agenda
Obama returns to Washington: Protecting healthcare law on the closing stretch agenda
JOSH LEDERMAN
Salon
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.
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.
As Trump and Republicans vow to gut the Affordable Care Act, Democrats are working to devise a strategy to protect the law by exploiting GOP divisions. Some Republicans want to strip out unpopular “Obamacare” provisions while leaving major parts intact, while others prefer a start-from-scratch approach.
His administration is also working feverishly to finish up regulations in the pipeline that Obama hopes can be completed in the final days, perhaps increasing the likelihood his policies carry over. But the closer it gets to Trump’s inauguration, the harder those tasks become.
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