The exuberance of a November election victory for Republicans has given way to the difficult reality of passing legislation in a closely divided Senate. While the GOP has made significant gains in the area of regulatory reform and secured a majority on the Supreme Court with the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch, the first seven months of the Trump administration have not led to the major early legislative successes that both President Trump and Republican legislators had hoped to achieve.

July was a very active month in Congress and for the administration, but Republicans were unable to accomplish one of their chief goals: repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With the Senate Republican version of repeal and replace dramatically failing in the wee hours of the morning by one vote, repeal efforts, at least for the time being, are postponed indefinitely.