Couldn't the Whitehouse just find some 200 year old law that sounds like it applies to encryption, and issue an executive order?
From the sound of it, they want to keep any sort of draconian measures as quiet as possible, and that'd probably be the quietest way to do it - especially now. The Obama administration said they'd clarify their stance on encryption "by the holidays".
They would if they wanted to but they don't. The FBI really thinks that the WH fucked them on this issue with Obama's statement a couple of months ago so I doubt he will go further on this. Hillary Clinton has already hinted that online companies should open up to law enforcement and Trump has gone even further than that so it's not looking good in that respect. The federal courts and the supreme court are a sucker for natsec so it's not looking very good.
From the sound of it, they want to keep any sort of draconian measures as quiet as possible, and that'd probably be the quietest way to do it - especially now. The Obama administration said they'd clarify their stance on encryption "by the holidays".