Washington usually turns into a ghost town in August.

The humidity becomes overbearing, so people who can find thetime flee town. Congress isn't in session and it's the last chancefamilies have to take a vacation before school starts.

But this year, as we all know, Washington went politically nutsin August. All sorts of crazy things happened – many of thememanating from the White House. There's no need to catalogue all ofthem here.

But as Congress returned, its must-do list has been huge.

Hurricane relief. The debt ceiling. Immigration law overhaul.Keeping the lights turned on in federal agencies. Reauthorizing thechildren's health program and the FAA. The Dreamers.

Oh yeah, then there's Obamacare and the wall.

That's not to mention the myriad of investigations into whetherPresident Trump colluded with the Russians in winning the electionor obstructed justice by attempting to hinder probes into theallegations.

Who knows what else will creep up on us.

And the president isn't getting along with anyone except hisbest friends. And even some of them aren't so fond of him somedays.

Harry S. Truman said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get adog.” At the rate he's going, if Trump got a dog, he'd make it madand it would bite him.

Trump's approval ratings are approaching those usually reservedfor used car salespeople and journalists.

Every one of the major issues facing Congress will have animpact on the issues that credit union folks care about. So, as wehead into the fall, here's the state of play of some of thoseissues.

Regulatory Overhaul

Remember this? Credit union leaders started the year optimisticthat Congress was committed to making substantial changes toDodd-Frank.

But optimism doesn't produce laws. Votes do.

It seems like years ago when the House passed the FinancialCHOICE Act – House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling'sattempt to overhaul Dodd-Frank.

The legislation hasn't gone anywhere since the House passed itin June. And it's not likely to go anywhere soon.

Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Id.) and his rankingDemocrat, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, have held a series of hearings onchanges to Dodd-Frank.

Crapo and Brown have been saying nice things about each otherand have pledged to produce a bipartisan bill.

Anything that the Senate can pass would have to be bipartisan,since it's likely to take 60 votes to get it through that body. Andanything that can get 60 votes in the Senate is likely to betinkering, rather than a full replacement of Dodd-Frank.

And then there's the question of whether the House would accepta watered-down regulatory overhaul bill. Tax Reform

Everyone's yammering about tax reform. But yammering won'tproduce tax reform. Votes will (catch a theme here?).

It's easy to be in favor of tax reform. I mean, everyone hassomething they hate about the income tax code. But even in the bestof times, it's tough to get a consensus on Capitol Hill about whatchanges should be made in the tax code.

And in case you haven't noticed, these ain't the best of times.Tax reform is tough. Every change gores someone's ox. Every commaincreases someone's tax and cuts someone else's (OK, that's a bitof an exaggeration, but you get the point).

Anyway, with so much else on their plates and deep politicaldivisions, will Congress really be able to tackle something socomplex and divisive as tax reform?

It will be a miracle if anything substantive is enacted.

Which, of course, is a bit of good news for credit unions. Itmeans that their tax exemption is safe until someone else tries toreform the tax code.

CFPB Changes

OK, this was the year when those big bad guys at the agency whomcredit unions hate were going to get it.

Trump was going to fire Director Richard Cordray or make hislife so miserable that he'd leave and never come back.

And if that didn't work, federal judges were going to say that the agency'smakeup was unconstitutional.

The CFPB rules on arbitration and payday lending were going tobe buried forever. The agency was going to be neutered and theirpowers so weakened that it might never be heard from again.

So what's happened? Nothing. Cordray still has a job. Thefederal court hasn't ruled yet and Trump hasn't fired Cordray. Andit looks like the only way he's leaving before his term is up nextsummer is if he decides he wants to run for governor of Ohio.

The agency's rulemaking powers haven't been weakened at all.

Many Democrats like the agency. And The New York Times recentlyreported that the agency may be so popular that its opponentsaren't going to succeed in their efforts to abolish it.

NCUA Vacancies

Trump has two vacancies to fill on the NCUA board, since RickMetsger's term has technically expired.

Folks in the credit union community say Trump may not nominatereplacements until late fall. Then, the nominees must go throughthe confirmation process, which could be quick or could last formonths.

So, what does all this mean? It means thatTrump's self-described ability to cut deals isn't working inWashington. It means that Charlottesville and the abysmal responseby some of our leaders have divided the country even more.

And it means that until some statesmen and stateswomen step upand start leading, the most we can hope for on many issues istinkering along the edges.

David Baumann is a Correspondent-at-Large at CreditUnion Times. He can be reached at [email protected].