Obama forges ahead with "year of action"
President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room in Washington, D.C., Friday, Dec. 19, 2014. (Carolyn Kaster, The Associated Press)
HONOLULU President Barack Obama rang in 2014 by declaring a "year of action," vowing to strengthen the nation by focusing on fairness, competitiveness and the power of American diplomacy. Since Congress seemed unwilling to help, Obama said he'd act alone.
On immigration, climate change and U.S.-Cuba relations, at least, Obama stayed true to his word, reshaping decades of American policy he argued had outlived its time. In a flurry of executive decrees taken over the heads of lawmakers, Obama added major notches to his legacy and tackled important issues for key support groups.
He angered Republican lawmakers and suffered a crushing midterm election defeat. "America does not stand still, and neither will I," Obama said in his January State of the Union address.
All told, Obama issued more than 80 executive actions and related measures this year, according to a report by the White House on Monday compiling the president's memoranda, orders and directives to federal agencies. Many were designed to use existing laws to meet new objectives, accomplishing what Congress couldn't or wouldn't get done through new legislation.
Yet other initiatives fell flat, never took off or had only modest impact. These were particularly the case with Obama's economic agenda, where the president's ability to act unilaterally was largely limited to small-bore steps like creating regional manufacturing hubs, new student loan payment options and higher federal contractors' wages. Although the economy improved measurably in 2014, it was unclear what role Obama's actions played.
"This was a year of near-zero accomplishment on the legislative front the way the government that James Madison designed is supposed to work," said William Galston, a Brookings Institution scholar who served under President Bill Clinton. "On the other hand, it was a year in which the president took surprisingly large steps through the exercise of his executive authority."
By acting alone, Obama has also assumed an inherent risk. Nearly all of these steps can be reversed by his successor.
Jeff Zients, a top Obama adviser, said Obama's executive actions would be sustained, arguing they were being "hard-wired" into the economy.
Obama's aides say acting without Congress was never the president's preferred approach, but one forced upon him by the inability of lawmakers to pass far-reaching legislation. Republican lawmakers say his inclination to impose his will has created deep mistrust, poisoning the atmosphere for compromise during Obama's final two years.
Continue reading here:
Obama forges ahead with "year of action"