One hand on light switch, Obama isn’t flipping to ‘off’ just yet

WASHINGTON — Just days before Mr Donald Trump raises his hand to take the oath of office, police departments in Chicago and Baltimore have agreed to federal overhauls, Cubans no longer have an easy route to residency in the United States, and new civil rights monuments in Alabama and South Carolina are on the books.

Still in the works as the seconds tick by for President Barack Obama: A negotiated release of US hostages in Afghanistan, another lengthy list of reduced prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders, and a raft of appointments too obscure but important federal boards and commissions.

And in the face of Mr Trump’s repeated questioning about whether the United States was getting value for its security dollars in supporting NATO, US tanks began rolling into Poland on Thursday (Jan 12), making good on a promise by Mr Obama to help Eastern European countries counter Russia’s president, Mr Vladimir Putin.

Mr Obama’s last moments in the White House are being filled with one announcement after another, each intended to bring long-planned efforts to a conclusion before members of his administration unplug their computers, turn off the lights and leave their offices for the last time.

Mr Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club, praised the president for acting to pre-empt his successor by designating three civil rights sites, ensuring that they are guaranteed recognition and protection “just days before Donald Trump takes office.”

So far, Mr Obama has not issued any surprise pardons — though he has every right to exercise that power through his final day in office, the way President Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, a tax fugitive.

At the same time, some things are already out of Mr Obama’s reach. Federal law will not allow him to release more detainees from Guantnamo Bay after four more were released on Jan 5. There is not enough time to finish the legal framework to regulate emissions from airplanes. And officials say there are no more monuments or federal parks to be designated before the transfer of power.

But taken together, the administration’s end-of-term push is an added aggravation to Mr Trump and members of his transition team, who are anxiously counting the time until they take over.

“It’s the actions of someone who isn’t fully satisfied with what he was able to do,” said Mr Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster. “This is his last-minute chance to do these little things.”

Mr Jason Miller, a spokesman for Trump’s transition team, called Mr Obama’s actions “executive overreach”, which he said “hasn’t just been a problem for the past eight days, it’s been a problem for the past eight years, ranging from illegal and unconstitutional amnesty to burdensome regulations that crush small businesses”.

Mr Obama administration officials say they are not cutting bureaucratic corners because of Mr Trump’s impending move into the West Wing. In most cases, they note, the efforts were begun well before the outcome of the election was known.

But they acknowledge that once the Trump administration takes over, many of Obama’s priorities will have been met.

“The administration has made a concerted effort to complete important work that was started months or even years ago,” said Mr Patrick Rodenbush, a spokesman for Mr Obama. “These actions have been fully considered and are consistent with the priorities this administration has pursued for the past eight years.”

Much of that “important work” has come in a flurry of activity.

On Friday, the Justice Department released the findings of a 13-month investigation into allegations that the Chicago Police Department had routinely used excessive force. The report concluded that the Chicago force has systemically violated the civil rights of residents.

The release of the report was accompanied by a negotiated agreement with the city of Chicago to address the department’s problem. A similar agreement was reached on Thursday in Baltimore as Justice Department officials raced to complete their work ahead of Friday’s inauguration.

Mr Trump’s Justice Department, which is likely to be led by Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, his choice for attorney general, could still take steps to undermine federal efforts to change the police departments. But officials say that with the agreements in place, Sessions, who has spoken out against federal overhauls of police departments, would have to actively work to reverse the previous actions.

Attorney General Loretta E Lynch said the announcement in Chicago set in motion a process that would continue “regardless of who sits atop the Justice Department”.

On Thursday evening, Mr Obama terminated a two-decade policy that allowed Cubans to remain in the United States as legal residents without getting visas, a change that had been long sought by the Cuban government.

The elimination of the so-called “wet foot, dry foot” policy, which dates to 1995, means that Cubans who arrive in the United States illegally will no longer be allowed to stay and eventually qualify to apply for legal, permanent residence. It follows Mr Obama’s efforts to normalise relations and restore diplomatic ties with Cuba.

And earlier on Thursday, Mr Obama created three new national monuments to honour the struggle for civil rights in America. He designated the historic A G Gaston Motel in Birmingham, Alabama, as the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument; identified four sites in Alabama to be called the Reconstruction Era National Monument; and established the Freedom Riders National Monument at the Greyhound bus station where Freedom Riders were attacked in the spring of 1961.

Mr Obama also expanded two national monuments in the West, protecting more areas of cultural, historic and environmental significance in Oregon and California. Both moves could anger opponents of federal control of Western lands.

Still, with less than a week before Mr Obama leaves office, his administration is not quite done.

White House officials say there is likely to be at least one last batch of commutations as the president seeks to work through a backlog of cases involving long sentences of low-level drug offenders, most of whom are young minority men.

And each day brings new appointments to government panels. In recent days, Mr Obama has named new members to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition; the J William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board; the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture Arts Development; and the US Merchant Marine Academy.

Perhaps the most dramatic last-minute action could come any day. The administration is racing to secure the release of American hostages in Afghanistan, including a US woman and her Canadian husband, who were abducted in 2012 by the Haqqani network, a powerful faction of the Taliban. The couple later had two children in captivity.

The terrorist group is also suspected of abducting a US professor and his Australian colleague in Kabul in Aug. US Special Operations forces tried to rescue the two men several weeks later but they had been moved. The Haqqanis are demanding the release of members of their group who are being held by the Afghan government.

On Wednesday, the Taliban released a video in which the professors pleaded with their governments to negotiate their release. THE NEW YORK TIMES