Obama Planning New Gun Restrictions in ‘Weeks, Not Months’

3 minute read
President Obama makes a statement on the counter-ISIL campaign - DC
President Barack Obama delivers a statement on the counter-ISIL campaign in the Pentagon briefing room Dec. 14, 2015 in Arlington, Virginia.Olivier Douliery—Corbis
By Philip Elliott

President Obama is heading into his last year in office, but that doesn’t mean his aides are indulging in senioritis just yet.

As Obama heads to his holiday in Hawaii on Friday, his senior aides are outlining a busy year ahead on issues as varied as regulating guns, shutting down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and pushing criminal justice reform. Oh, and the 2016 presidential campaign is going to take up some of Obama’s time.

“We’re just going to hang up our hat,” White House communications chief Jen Psaki deadpanned to reporters at a roundtable organized by Bloomberg News.

Obama is entering the eighth year of his Presidency and the 2016 campaign—and its colorful contenders like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz—has started to eclipse his headlines. However, Psaki rejected that Obama is entering a lame-duck year with his political clout undercut because time is running out. Instead, the longtime Obama adviser said the White House is prepared to keep fighting until its last days in early 2017. For instance, Psaki said the White House was preparing to put in place new restrictions on guns in “weeks, not months.”

Obama is not expected to take actions before Christmas, however, Psaki said.

Psaki made her comments at the Bloomberg Breakfast session hours before Obama was set to head to San Bernardino, Calif., to meet with families of the victims of a terrorist attack that killed 14 and injured 22. Gun violence, Psaki said, has been a personal issue for Obama and is a topic he often pushes his aides to give him better options.

The White House keenly aware that Republicans control Congress, and there is little appetite for bipartisan cooperation on dicey issues in an election year. “We understand our challenges in Congress. The President was elected twice. He’s not a political neophyte. He knows how this works,” Psaki said.

However, Psaki noted that the GOP isn’t faring so well in fighting Obama. “They were focused on rolling back and ending (the Affordable Care Act), they were focused on preventing an Iran deal from happening, they were focused on dismantling some parts of our Cuba announcement, they were focused on rolling back progress on climate change,” Psaki said. “They’re 0 for 4.”

That record is one Obama is expected to take with him in the coming year to campaign for the eventual Democratic nominee. “Some of you may have heard, there’s a campaign next year. … You should fully expect that the President will be out campaigning for the nominee quite a bit,” Psaki said. “I would remind everyone he’s the most popular elected official out there.”

Read Next: This Is the One Thing President Obama Refused to Do on Running Wild With Bear Grylls

See Air Force One's Transformation Over 70 Years

A view of Air Force One on the runway.
After the original Air Force One, a C-87A Liberator Express nicknamed Guess Where II, was deemed unsafe for presidential use, this Douglas C-54 Skymaster, nicknamed Sacred Cow was introduced for President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. It was equipped with a radio telephone, sleeping area, and elevator for President Roosevelt's wheelchair. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Faded color photograph of the Independence in flight.Date: ca. 1947 The Independence
In 1947, Sacred Cow was replaced with Independence by President Truman, who named it after his hometown. The Douglas DC-6 Liftmaster's nose was painted as a bald eagle.Truman Presidential Library
President Dwight Eisenhower’s private plane
President Eisenhower added Columbine II, a Lockheed C-121 Super Constellation, to the Presidential fleet in 1953.William J. Smith—AP
British Royalty, Royal Tour of the United States, pic: October 1957, Washington, USA, HM, Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh pictured alongside US, President Dwight Eisenhower at the airport welcome
Columbine III, and two smaller Aero Commanders, joined Eisenhower's Presidential planes. Popperfoto/Getty Images
Air Force One
Special Air Mission 26000, a Boeing 707, went into presidential service under the Kennedy administration. SAM 26000 stayed in service through Bill Clinton's administration until 1998. Wally Nelson—AP
AIR FORCE ONE REAGAN
Although SAM 26000 remained in service throughout the 1990s, it was replaced as the primary executive aircraft by SAM 27000, the same model aircraft, in 1972. Pictured here is President Ronal Reagan on SAM 27000.TSGT Michael J. Haggerty—AP
Barack Obama,
In 1990, SAM 28000, a Boeing 747 was introduced to the Presidential fleet.Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP
Airplane Takeoffs And Landings At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
SAM 29000, also a Boeing 747, remains President Obama's primary transport aircraft.Raymond Boyd—Getty Images
This Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental jetliner, the first VIP-configured aircraft, rolls out for an undisclosed customer for takeoff from Paine Field in Everett, Washington
In January, 2015, it was announced that a Boeing 747-8 will take over as the newest member of the Presidential Fleet known as Air Force One.Anthony Bolante—Reuters

More Must-Reads from TIME

Write to Philip Elliott at philip.elliott@time.com