HONOLULU (AP) - President Barack Obama is entering the closing stretch of his presidency. He’s in an eleventh-hour push to tie up loose ends and put the 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. His final days will largely be consumed with a bid to protect his endangered health care law, a major farewell speech and the ongoing handover of power to Trump's team.
His speech in his hometown of Chicago, on Jan. 10, is expected to be his closing message to the nation. White House officials say Obama is also planning last-minute commutations and pardons in line with his second-term effort to cut sentences for drug offenders given unduly harsh sentences.