It has seemed at times that President Joe Biden, with just weeks remaining until he leaves office, has taken action to specifically spite his incoming replacement, President-elect Donald Trump, and impose obstacles to stymie Trump's America First policy agenda.

The latest example came Monday when Biden signed an executive order that placed vast swathes of the nation's coastal waters completely off-limits to any leases for oil and natural gas exploration and drilling, the New York Post reported.

Trump and some congressional Republicans, who've been open about their intent to dramatically increase domestic energy production, including through more offshore drilling, pushed back against the petty partisan move and vowed to swiftly reverse it, but that might prove easier said than done.

Biden broadly bans new oil and gas drilling off U.S. coasts

In a Monday statement, President Biden said, "I am taking action to protect the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from oil and natural gas drilling and the harm it can cause."

"My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs. It is not worth the risks," he continued. "As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren."

The outgoing president went on to say, "In balancing the many uses and benefits of America’s ocean, it is clear to me that the relatively minimal fossil fuel potential in the areas I am withdrawing do not justify the environmental, public health, and economic risks that would come from new leasing and drilling."

"We do not need to choose between protecting the environment and growing our economy, or between keeping our ocean healthy, our coastlines resilient, and the food they produce secure and keeping energy prices low. Those are false choices," Biden added in a parting shot against Trump. "Protecting America’s coasts and ocean is the right thing to do, and will help communities and the economy to flourish for generations to come."

Biden's ban includes most of nation's offshore waters

According to a White House "fact sheet," President Biden's executive action placed off-limits to oil and gas exploration and drilling approximately 625 million acres of U.S. offshore waters.

That encompasses nearly the entirety of the roughly 334 million acres that make up the East Coast from the northern tip of Maine to the southern tip of Florida, along with the Eastern Gulf of Mexico along Florida's western and northern coasts. It also involves around 250 million acres of federal waters off the nation's West Coast, including all of California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as about 44 million acres in the Northern Bering Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska.

In doing so, Biden cited his authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, specifically codified as 43 U.S.C. § 1341(a), which states that "The President of the United States may, from time to time, withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf."

The Post noted that the statute contains no obvious provision for subsequent presidents to easily reverse such withdrawals via an executive order, so it may take legislative action from the Republican-controlled Congress to undo it.

Trump vows to reverse Biden's ban "immediately" after taking office

In a statement to the Post, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, "This is a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we will drill, baby, drill."

President-elect Trump reacted to Biden's move during an interview with conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt, and told him, "I see it just came over that Biden has banned all oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory. It’s ridiculous. I’ll unban it immediately."

In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump stated more broadly, "Biden is doing everything possible to make the TRANSITION as difficult as possible, from Lawfare such as has never been seen before, to costly and ridiculous Executive Orders on the Green New Scam and other money wasting Hoaxes. Fear not, these 'Orders' will all be terminated shortly, and we will become a Nation of Common Sense and Strength. MAGA!!!"