You get a banana republic by starting with a dictator.
Obama's position has been straightforward, at least privately. He will do whatever he wants and no one will stop him. He has repeatedly defied Congress and the courts to do so.
While he plays the game of giving speech in which he demands that Congress do X or Y, it's in practice shut out of the process. Here's how it worked on the Iran Deal.
Obama made it clear to Democrats in Congress that he would implement the deal no matter what. The Republican leadership by now has gotten the message. The message is that Congressional voters are irrelevant. They don't affect policy unless the dictator-in-chief allows them to.
That reduces all such votes to positioning. Gestures. Some are more meaningful than others, but barring impeachment proceedings, they don't really matter.
Obama illegally allocates money, goes to war, makes treaties and makes appointments while bypassing the Senate. In such an environment, you either defy or you appear to defy. Compromise is irrelevant because Obama doesn't compromise. Not even with fellow Democrats.




















