2015 was supposed to be the year U.S. President Barack Obama would use unilateral executive action to accomplish major goals of his administration that had been blocked by Congress: relaxing deportations, closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and restricting access to guns.
But all three goals stalled. Obama's executive action on immigration, announced in November 2014, was stymied in the federal courts. An executive plan to close Guantanamo, rumored to be on the verge of announcement, was held back after the Paris attacks. And although some executive action on guns is still expected in the new year, it's sure to be challenged in court and may not take effect during Obama's presidency.
For liberals who relish the idea of Obama unbound, the limits on executive action, both legal and political, feel like unfair usurpations of legitimate presidential power. For conservatives who don't like the policies that Obama would enact, the delays surely come as evidence that the tripartite system of government is a working relationship.