House Republicans pushed their legislative goals, occasionally succeeding at the committee level or even in the whole House. However, the Senate has been mired in partisan fighting on issues ranging from appropriations bills to the confirmation of a new Supreme Court Justice.

And in some cases, members have simply laid down a marker for future action or pushed legislation that would be attractive to constituents or campaign donors.

For example, on June 7, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) proposed repealing the Dodd-Frank Act and said he wants to replace it with a new regulatory regime.

McKechnie said Republicans and Democrats can't agree on fundamental issues. For instance, he said, to Republicans, regulatory relief means repealing Dodd-Frank. To Democrats, regulatory relief means strengthening that law.

Take the CFPB – a favorite target for Republicans. The House version of the financial services appropriations bill would take away power from the CFPB director and put it in the hands of a board. The bill would also make the CFPB subject to the annual appropriations process.

Those policy changes have been in House funding measures before, but ultimately have not been included in appropriations bills. And this year, House appropriators added a new feature: They want to delay the CFPB's final rules governing mandatory arbitration agreements until the CFPB meets certain as-yet unspecified conditions.

The House plan does serve a purpose, Donovan said.

"It continues the momentum for the issue," he said.

Moving such legislation through the Senate remains a problem, particularly because of opposition from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) according to Carrie Hunt, NAFCU's executive vice president of government affairs and general counsel.

"Everything has been an uphill battle," she said. "She certainly continues to hold a great deal of sway."

Even legislation that has been introduced in both Houses is not moving in either House. One example is H.R. 2287, which would increase the transparency of the NCUA. It has been approved by the House Financial Services Committee, but has not gone to the House floor. S. 924 is similar legislation that has been introduced in the Senate but remains stalled in the House Banking Committee.

Data security remains a high priority for credit unions, which have called for legislation t place merchants under strict data security standards. It's also an issue that affects various stakeholders with conflicting interests, Hunt and Donovan said.

"It's a complicated issue with competing constituencies," Donovan said.

Hunt added, "Data security certainly is a broad issue that affects a number of constituencies."

Several bills have been introduced, each bringing its own data breach solution.

On the nomination front, NCUA board member J. Mark McWatters' nomination to the Export-Import Bank board remains stalled in the Senate Banking Committee. Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) continues to insist he will not bring the nomination up for a vote.

Donovan said he believes Democrats will continue to press for a vote on McWatters.

"I don't think the administration is going to take its foot off the gas," he said.

The legislative calendar will not allow for much action on Capitol Hill, Donovan said. Congress is scheduled to be in recess during the national party conventions and wants to adjourn early to allow members to go home and campaign for re-election.

"The window of opportunity is going to close about now," he said.

But the lack of legislation does not mean policymaking has come to a complete halt. Agencies such as the CFPB have kept stakeholders and lobbyists busy.

"Most of what I follow is on the regulatory side," McKechnie said. "That's where the action is."