Tired of winning? Clock ticks down on Trump's first year
Stephen Collinson Profile
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN
Updated 1128 GMT (1928 HKT) November 27, 2017
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 20: Drumstick and Wishbone, the National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate 'wingman,' are introduced during an event hosted by The National Turkey Federation at the Williard InterContinental November 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. One of the 40-pound fowl will be presented to U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House Tuesday, when he will ceremoniously 'pardon' the turkey. Both of the 20-week-old birds will then reside at their new home, 'Gobbler's Rest,' at Virginia Tech. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Highlights from Trump's first turkey pardon
Trump's war of words with LaVar Ball
Trump: N. Korea is a state sponsor of terror
Women opposed to Trump win elections across US
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 15: US President Donald Trump speaks following a meeting on infrastructure at Trump Tower, August 15, 2017 in New York City. He fielded questions from reporters about his comments on the events in Charlottesville, Virginia and white supremacists. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Trump wrong on whether he waits for the facts
trump military winningNOW PLAYING
Trump touts leadership during military call
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 16: U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he leaves the Capitol after he attended a House Republican Conference meeting November 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump travels to Capitol Hill to discuss the tax reform bill as the House prepare to vote on the bill today. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Trump: 'Pass' on TIME's person of the year
GOLDEN, CO - OCTOBER 29: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump addresses a campaign rally in the Rodeo Arena at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds October 29, 2016 in Golden, Colorado. The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Friday it discovered emails pertinent to the closed investigation of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's private email server and are looking to see if they improperly contained classified information. Trump said "I think it's the biggest story since Watergate."
Stelter: This is how Trump shades the truth
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 15: US President Donald Trump speaks about his 12-day trip to Asia, fair trade, and the economy, at the White House on November 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
IRS beefs up security for Trump's tax returns
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Trump golfs with Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson
US President Donald Trump talks to reporters during his departure at the White House in Washington, DC, on November 21, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Trump defends Roy Moore to reporters
trump turkey pardon moos pkg erin_00002010.jpg
Some of the things Trump is thankful for
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 20: Drumstick and Wishbone, the National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate 'wingman,' are introduced during an event hosted by The National Turkey Federation at the Williard InterContinental November 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. One of the 40-pound fowl will be presented to U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House Tuesday, when he will ceremoniously 'pardon' the turkey. Both of the 20-week-old birds will then reside at their new home, 'Gobbler's Rest,' at Virginia Tech. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Highlights from Trump's first turkey pardon
Trump's war of words with LaVar Ball
Trump: N. Korea is a state sponsor of terror
Women opposed to Trump win elections across US
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 15: US President Donald Trump speaks following a meeting on infrastructure at Trump Tower, August 15, 2017 in New York City. He fielded questions from reporters about his comments on the events in Charlottesville, Virginia and white supremacists. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Trump wrong on whether he waits for the facts
Trump touts leadership during military call
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 16: U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he leaves the Capitol after he attended a House Republican Conference meeting November 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump travels to Capitol Hill to discuss the tax reform bill as the House prepare to vote on the bill today. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Trump: 'Pass' on TIME's person of the year
GOLDEN, CO - OCTOBER 29: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump addresses a campaign rally in the Rodeo Arena at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds October 29, 2016 in Golden, Colorado. The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Friday it discovered emails pertinent to the closed investigation of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's private email server and are looking to see if they improperly contained classified information. Trump said "I think it's the biggest story since Watergate."
Stelter: This is how Trump shades the truth
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 15: US President Donald Trump speaks about his 12-day trip to Asia, fair trade, and the economy, at the White House on November 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
IRS beefs up security for Trump's tax returns
title: duration: 00:00:00 site: author: published: intervention: yes description:
Trump golfs with Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson
US President Donald Trump talks to reporters during his departure at the White House in Washington, DC, on November 21, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Trump defends Roy Moore to reporters
trump turkey pardon moos pkg erin_00002010.jpg
Some of the things Trump is thankful for
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 20: Drumstick and Wishbone, the National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate 'wingman,' are introduced during an event hosted by The National Turkey Federation at the Williard InterContinental November 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. One of the 40-pound fowl will be presented to U.S. President
Trump's first year in the White House is coming to a close
He's still searching for a substantive legislative victory
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has just one month left to salvage a lost legislative year in a presidency that he vowed would be an endless victory lap -- but has yet to produce a major new law that reshapes the nation.
The President's road to a congressional win could be paved by passing the first sweeping tax reform package in decades, which would appease restive Republican voters and represent an undeniable personal political triumph.
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But it also comes strewn with obstacles, many of his own making.
Trump's tenuous relationship with his own party, and the split between the GOP's populist and establishment wings, will complicate the effort by Republican leaders to deliver on their monopoly on Washington power.
Democrats have the chance to leverage the threat of a government shutdown to advance their own agenda after stunning Republicans by tempting the President into a deal to avoid a previous fiscal crunch in September.
From taxes to a spy program, Republicans under pressure as year-end agenda looms
From taxes to a spy program, Republicans under pressure as year-end agenda looms
And controversy pitting Trump against GOP leaders over Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race, and the darkening cloud of the Russia investigation, risk scrambling the President's concentration in the crucial weeks to come.
Trump's presidency has also often produced Washington storms that distract the White House from the events on which he will be judged by posterity.
What's going on at the CFPB?
What's going on at the CFPB?
By Monday, the administration was locked in a new legal tussle over executive power with the outgoing head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray, who quit on Friday and named his former chief of staff Leandra English, as his interim successor.
The administration insists that the President has the authority to appoint an interim director, and Trump named his budget chief Mick Mulvaney, a longtime critic of the bureau, to the post.
The President, meanwhile, opened the week touting optimism over the possibility for a victory on Capitol Hill.
Back in D.C., big week for Tax Cuts and many other things of great importance to our Country. Senate Republicans will hopefully come through for all of us. The Tax Cut Bill is getting better and better. The end result will be great for ALL!
"Back in D.C., big week for Tax Cuts and many other things of great importance to our Country," Trump tweeted Sunday night. "Senate Republicans will hopefully come through for all of us. The Tax Cut Bill is getting better and better. The end result will be great for ALL!"
But his frustration about his barren legislative record is revealed by another of his periodic attempts to rewrite political reality.
Since the first day I took office, all you hear is the phony Democrat excuse for losing the election, Russia, Russia,Russia. Despite this I have the economy booming and have possibly done more than any 10 month President. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
"Since the first day I took office, all you hear is the phony Democrat excuse for losing the election, Russia, Russia,Russia," Trump tweeted earlier Sunday evening. "Despite this I have the economy booming and have possibly done more than any 10 month President. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Trump also tweeted a link at the weekend to a website listing his achievements in office, writing "Wow, even I didn't realize we did so much. Wish the Fake News would report! Thank you."
Wow, even I didn’t realize we did so much. Wish the Fake News would report! Thank you. https://twitter.com/magapill/status/934553287214489600 …
The list largely reflected strong job growth, executive orders he signed on issues like immigration and minor bills passed by Congress.
But Trump has failed to use the moment of his maximum power to forge a legislative legacy, and his low approval ratings have dented his influence in Washington at a moment when most presidents achieve their biggest wins.
CNN poll: One year later, less confidence, less trust in President Trump
CNN poll: One year later, less confidence, less trust in President Trump
His hopes of a more prolific year in 2018 rest on lawmakers already fixated with midterm elections who will be wary of tough political votes.
Republican senators openly admit that their supporters could deal them a rebuke in November if they fail to produce tangible results for their lease on power by passing the tax reform bill.
"For every Republican senator, the fate of the party is in our hands, as well as that of the economy," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told CNN's Dana Bash Sunday on "State of the Union."
"The economy needs a tax cut, and the Republican Party needs to deliver. So, I think we will get there," he said.
The House has already passed its version of the tax reform bill. But the GOP's two-vote majority in the Senate leaves the fate of the legislation in the balance amid wrangling on the scope of the tax cuts, their likely swelling of the deficit and an effort to include a repeal of Obamacare's coverage mandate.
Outspoken Republican Trump opponents, such as Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, must decide whether to hand a victory that could strengthen a President they have argued is barely fit for office.
Trump will head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to rally Senate Republicans ahead of a possible vote on the tax reform this week.
In the long term, the tax reform package holds risk for Trump and his party.
Democrats are branding the package as a massive giveaway to the rich, highlighting its deficit implications and questioning the GOP promise that a huge corporate tax cut will ignite growth, raise wages and create jobs.
"There's a real problem, a trillion-and-a-half dollars added to the deficit, threatening Medicare and Social Security, tax breaks for the wealthiest people in America and the biggest corporations," Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said on "State of the Union."
Durbin said that while tax breaks for the middle class will sunset, "the tax cuts for wealthiest people are permanent. That's just unfair, and that's why half of the American people are skeptical about this Trump tax plan."
Democrats must decide whether to make government funding conditional on their priorities -- including the renewal of a children's health care program and a rescue of undocumented migrants brought to the US as children, who are facing deportation.
Disagreement between the parties on those issues could spark a period of political brinkmanship and a government shutdown before Christmas.
The tax and government funding showdowns could also be colored by the question of whether Democratic gains in this November's elections are a dark omen for Republicans heading into midterm polls.
Cascade of sexual harassment allegations
Franken embarrassed over groping allegations 01:32
Washington is now also consumed by the cascade of sexual harassment allegations that are causing embarrassment for Democrats as well as the GOP.
Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken said Sunday he would return to work "embarrassed and ashamed" over accusations he inappropriately touched several women. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is under fire for her handling of allegations against party icon Rep. John Conyers, who stepped down as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee on Sunday.
The Roy Moore saga is twisting the Republican Party in knots ahead of the Alabama Senate election on December 12.
Trump effectively endorsed Moore before Thanksgiving, siding with his populist base against establishment GOP leaders, after several women accused Moore of pursing sexual relationships with them when they were in their teens and he was in his 30s.
One woman alleges Moore touched her inappropriately when she was 14. Another woman has accused Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16. The legal age of consent in Alabama is 16.
Moore has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Trump's lifeline to Moore has left the GOP with a lose-lose situation.
"If he wins, we get the baggage of him winning, and it becomes a story every day about whether or not you believe the women or Roy Moore, should he stay in the Senate, should he be expelled?" Graham said.
"If you lose, you give the Senate seat to a Democrat at a time where we need all the votes we can get," he said.
The widening scope of the Russia investigation will also further strain nerves in the White House in December. Reports that lawyers for former national security adviser Michael Flynn have cut off contacts with the President's attorneys have sparked speculation he is negotiating a deal to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller.
Such an agreement could indicate that Mueller's team has higher prey in mind in the investigation -- extending even further into the top ranks of the White House.
"It depends on what the President has done and what the President's conversations with Michael Flynn and others have been," said former US Attorney Preet Bharara, who is now a CNN contributor. "But if you have done bad things, then you should be very worried."
