ROBERT REICH: SEVEN THINGS OBAMA SHOULD DO BEFORE HE LEAVES OFFICE [View all]

[Alekzander]

. Name Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives the president power to fill any vacancy during the recess of the Senate. The Supreme Court is no exception: Justice William Brennan began his court tenure with a recess appointment in 1956.

Any appointments made this way expire at the end of the next Senate session. So if Obama appointed Garland on January 3, the appointment would last until December 2017, the end of the first session of the 115th Congress.

Related: Robert Reich: Rallies and lies. This is how tyranny begins

2. Use his pardoning authority to forgive “Dreamers”

With a flick of his pen, Obama could forgive the past and future civil immigration offenses of the nearly 750,000 young people granted legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Without an immigration offense on their records, they could more easily apply for legal status.


rest of the list: http://www.newsweek.com/robert-reich-seven-things-obama-should-do-he-leaves-office-536804