3 Things Obama Can Still Accomplish.
Obama has just 18 days until his time in the White House comes to an end and President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation's 45th commander-in-chief.
And while that doesn't seem like a long time, there are still a few things left Obama can accomplish before he goes back to being a private citizen.
Over the past few weeks, Obama has taken actions to cement his legacy and prevent Trump from tarnishing it.
He declared parts of the Arctic "indefinitely off limits" for oil drilling; he named two national monuments in Utah and Nevada to protect the land from future energy projects; and he imposed sanctions on Russia for its alleged cyber attacks during the 2016 election, forcing Trump to either keep or lift the punishment when he's sworn in. He could continue to take those executive actions in the remaining days of his presidency.
Clemency
As president, Obama has the power to both lower the sentences of convicted inmates serving time in prison, as well as pardon those charged with or convicted of crimes.
A commuted sentence lowers the sentence for someone convicted of a crime. A pardon forgives someone of a crime all together.
Obama has granted clemency and pardoned more than 1,300 people during his time as president, according to the New York Times, most for drug-related offenses.
Clemency requests are flooding in, including from Edward Snowden, currently exiled in Russia after being indicted on espionage charges for leaking classified information from the National Security Agency.
But the Obama administration says those who have applied for clemency may not get their wish ...