President Barack Obama will give his farewell speech on Jan. 10 in Chicago.
Coming 10 days before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in as Democrats cede the White House to Republicans, Obama's hometown address is expected to serve as his closing words to the nation as president.
The appearance will be open to the public and followed by a "family reunion" for alumni of Obama's former campaigns, according to a save-the-date notice sent to Obama alumni and obtained by the Associated Press. The White House has not confirmed Obama's speech or trip to Chicago.
Ahead of the speech, Obama and Democratic lawmakers next week will meet to try to forge a common strategy to prevent Republicans from destroying the president's signature health-care law.
On Wednesday morning, Obama travels to the Capitol for the meeting with House and Senate Democrats, according to an invitation sent to lawmakers. The White House is casting it as an effort to unite Democrats behind a plan to protect the law, known as the Affordable Care Act, before Republicans have a chance to settle on their own plan for repealing it.
Democrats are on edge over the future of the ACA, given the GOP's disdain for "Obamacare" and Trump's vows to gut it. Though Republicans are united behind the notion of repealing the law, they're split over how best to replace it. Some want to strip out unpopular provisions while leaving others intact, while other Republicans prefer a start-from-scratch approach.
It's that lack of unanimity among Republicans that Obama and Democrats hope can be exploited, if they can lay the groundwork before Trump takes office. To that end, Obama also planned to answer questions about the future of the health-care law next Friday during a livestreamed event at Blair House, just across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.
Initially stunned by the defeat of Hillary Clinton, Democrats are now trying to organize a counterattack to preserve the ACA, among the most significant expansions of the social safety net since Medicare and Medicaid were created 50 years ago. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has urged her lawmakers to make health care their focus at the start of the year.
Since the ACA passed, about 20 million people have gained coverage and the uninsured rate has dropped to a historic low of around 9 percent. Some of the coverage gains are due to employers offering jobs with health care in a stronger economy, but most experts mainly credit Obama's law.
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