President Trump last week recorded a 46-minute video rant regurgitating a litany of baseless accusations of election fraud. He awarded former college football coach Lou Holtz, a close political ally, the Medal of Freedom in an Oval Office ceremony. He threatened to veto a defense budget bill if it fails to include measures to punish social media companies that have flagged his falsehood-laden posts.
Yet even as Trump has been consumed with his waning political fortunes in a desperate attempt to retain power, his administration has accelerated efforts to lock in last-minute policy gains and staffing assignments that it hopes will help cement the president’s legacy and live on past Jan. 20, when President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in.
Last week, for example, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adopted a longer and more difficult citizenship test that critics said could further curb legal immigration. The Pentagon named 11 new members, including a pair of prominent former Trump campaign aides, to a Defense Department business advisory board. And the president signed an executive order drafted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy aimed at protecting civil liberties in the use of artificial intelligence by the federal government. Continue reading.