Towards the end of a presidential term, after the elections have taken place and a new president-elect has been selected, the outgoing president becomes a lame duck president, a period when the media and Americans tend to forget about the old commander in chief.
In his final days in office, President Barack Obama has rejected the lame-duck period entirely. Instead, the nation’s first black president is taking every opportunity to install last minute policy changes, declare national monuments, install concrete gardens and wrap up every piece of legislature President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to unravel, including Obamacare, arguably President Obama’s greatest legacy.
With less than a month left in office, there are still a number of possible policies the Obama administration will attempt to enact, including safety standards on beryllium inhalation for construction workers, a change to incentive pay on Wall Street to discourage risky trading and definitions of organic for meat consumption.
And he’s already put in some last-minute policies directly in contradiction with Trump’s goals and vision. The outgoing president permanently protected parts of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans from off-shore drilling and named two new national parks for Native American culture. In addition, he’s made critical comments of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanhanyu even as Trump eagerly aligned himself with Israel.
The president ordered the deportation of 35 people suspected of being Russian spies, and ordered sanction on two Russian intelligence agencies, following the recent consensus from American intelligence agencies that Russian forces acted to benefit Donald Trump in the recent election.
This is likely infuriating for Trump, who has adamantly denied any whistleblower on Russian interference despite the overwhelming consensus from the intelligence community. Even as Obama vacationed in Hawaii, he issued a public statement saying all Americans “should be alarmed” by the Russian interference.
His administration is also attempting to resettle as many Syrian and Somalian refugees as possible before Trump’s inauguration. In response to the global refugee crisis, the incoming president has proposed measures as extreme as closing the borders to all Muslims; meanwhile, Obama’s administration is currently placing nearly 300 refugees a day across the country in a last-minute dash to protect as many as possible.
Obama held a Nov. 30 criminal justice reform symposium to address the inhumane and violent conditions of the nation’s criminal justice system, despite Trump’s promise to improve crime in the nation by aggressively increasing police presence and activity.
He’s also enacted a rule banning states from denying funds to Planned Parenthood, a protection that will take Trump time to undo and which will protect the women’s health service provider at least until February.
The two presidents—the outgoing not-so-lame-duck and the incoming populist with no political experience—appear to be at odds with each other. Even as Trump puts together the staff and goals for his administration, Obama is enacting policies that will eventually become hurdles for the Republican to face, as though they are a last-minute challenge. No one, not even the outgoing President of the United States, can afford to be relaxed in the face of an impending Trump presidency.