What Is Obama Doing In His Final Days? How POTUS Is Protecting Legacy From Donald Trump

He may be a lame duck president, but Barack Obama still has a few last-minute plans to scratch off his Oval Office to-do list. The 44th president of the United States is currently enjoying a family vacation in Hawaii, while simultaneously cementing his legacy ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

In his final days as the leader of the free world, Obama has commuted more prison sentences than the past 11 presidents combined, preserved more environments and American soil than any other U.S. president and has reportedly been urging the president-elect to protect his key health care overhaul, Obamacare. It’s all part of a last-ditch effort by the sitting president and his White House to ensure the Democratic agenda they’ve pushed for eight years holds weight under the next administration.

For starters, Obama is ensuring his environmental track record is solid, creating at least three more national monuments during his last days in office, expanding federal protection to at least 1.8 million acres of American landscape. He’s also actively seeking to punish the Russian government for its confirmed involvement in cyber attacks impacting the 2016 presidential election, in which the president and First Lady Michelle Obama became key campaign stumpers for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Obama announced a list of sanctions against Russia Thursday afternoon, just weeks before he leaves elected office. Those include covert and public activities meant to hinder the Russian Kremlin’s daily functionality, either in upcoming elections or by exposing private governmental data, according to experts. The president also ensured those sanctions would be difficult for the next administration to immediately repeal, albeit possible, considering the president-elect’s apparent fondness of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After Putin decided not to retaliate with sanctions of his own on the U.S., Trump tweeted, "Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!"

The Obama administration is also expected to announce a series of new policy initiatives in the coming days, including occupational safety measures by the Labor Department that will reduce the amount of beryllium workers can be exposed to on the job, new rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau preventing credit card companies from charging consumers baseless fees and incentive-based compensation rules by regulators, The Hill reported Wednesday.