In 1948 Harry Truman won re-election by calling a do nothing Republican Congress back into session during the August recess to act on the things they were saying on the campaign trail. He was saying do them now! But of course they didn’t want to because they thought it might help him. They continued to sit and do nothing and in the end he could hammer them for that and he won.
This current Congress has put the 1948 Congress to shame, most notably now with the Garland nomination, but also with funding to deal with the Zika virus and a host of other issues.
I think Obama should wait until Congress goes into the August recess and call them into session to deal with both of those issues. He does have that authority. The Zika virus because it’s a major health issue. And the Garland nomination because a new SCOTUS session begins in September. And with regard to Garland nomination he should give them a deadline, saying either confirm him by Oct. 1 or the nomination will be withdrawn. They can take their chances on who they might get later.
And then Obama can hit the campaign trail and hammer the GOP Congress just like Truman did. My bet is by the beginning of September the GOP chances with Trump won’t be looking very good. My bet is Mitch McConnell sees the light.
It would make for an interesting campaign season.