President Obama tried to sneak in a bevy of restrictive regulations on his way out the door.Weekly Standard "Like a bachelor before a date, the Obama administration rushed around during the transition hiding dirty laundry for the incoming administration. And now, almost 100 days in, the Trump team is still working to find and undo a handful of underreported bureaucratic messes left behind.
"The Obama administration was on cruise control before the election because almost everyone in the president’s circle was sure that Hillary Clinton would win. However, as reality set in, the president and his team rushed through a series of regulatory measures, leaving behind a a few dirty socks for the Trump administration to pick up.
"In fact, this public policy cleanup has consumed the administration during the first 100 days and shows no signs of slowing. It indicates pettiness on the part of an outgoing president who rejected the results of the election because they clashed with his pride.
"One of the most public wins in this administration-to-administration game has been rolling back Obama's rushed-through CAFE standards, which dictate how many MPG an automaker's fleet must average. Despite announcing in 2016 that the government wouldn't publish new standards until the middle of 2017, President Obama did exactly that as fast as possible after Clinton lost. (This might be the first example of a president breaking a campaign promise after someone else's election.)
"That wasn't the only mess though. Obama proved amazingly effective when his vindictiveness was roused. His administration filed suits against companies that weren't among his donors, and they checked off items from the supporter's wish lists as well." . . . Emphasis added, TD