In predictable Obama administration fashion, the president and his lemmings have made no bones about the fact that they are doing everything they can to tie the hands of the incoming Trump administration and a complimentary Republican-controlled Congress.

This time it’s the E.P.A. who has rushed to finalize rules regarding vehicle fuel emissions through 2025.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it’s keeping vehicle efficiency standards intact through the 2025 model year, shoring up a key piece of President Barack Obama’s environmental legacy against a challenge by the incoming administration. The agency issued a “final determination” Friday that reaffirms its earlier finding that no major changes are necessary in greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks. The move makes it more difficult for President-elect Donald Trump’s administration to change the standard.

Of course, McCarthy insists her determination is all on the up and up.

“At every step in the process the analysis has shown that the greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and light trucks remain affordable and effective through 2025, and will save American drivers billions of dollars at the pump while protecting our health and the environment,” McCarthy said in the statement.

Except the people whose job it is to know the ins and outs of everything to do with the fuel efficiency of their vehicles, you know, the automakers, disagree heartily.

Carmakers have said the standards will raise vehicle costs and accused the EPA of rushing to conclude the evaluation process before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Automakers had expected the review to last months longer so there would be time for additional debate. The final determination was due no later than April 2018. On Nov. 30, the EPA announced its preliminary decision to lock in the 2022-2025 rules based on a finding that they were both affordable and effective. Automakers disagreed and asked the EPA to reconsider and give them more time to make their case.

Which was surely an acceptable before Donald Trump and Republicans won control of the White House and Congress on November 8th.

The end runs that the Obama administration is doing in an effort to thwart the incoming government are a perfect example of why President Obama and his administration, as well as Democrats at every level of government, have been a total failure. The American people are tired of the “pen and the phone” approach to every little insignificant pet annoyance of President Obama’s.

The only thing I look forward to about a Donald Trump presidency is the thought of the Obama team being out. Good riddance.