Washington (CNN) -- If all the recent wrangling over the fiscal cliff has revealed anything, it's how tense and strained President Obama's relationship is with Republicans in Congress. Borger: Fiscal cliff was bound to collapse And Obama's relationship with Congress reached yet another low Thursday when House Speaker John Boehner confirmed to CNN that he has told House Republicans he will no longer negotiate legislative deals with the president. And in an opinion piece on Thursday, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas faulted the president for all the fiscal brinksmanship since 2010. The new No. 2 Senate Republican also suggested that "[i]t may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well being of our country."
@highlight
House Speaker John Boehner says he won't negotiate legislation with the president
@highlight
Zelizer: House GOP won't acknowledge Obama's mandate, Boehner not in control of caucus
@highlight
Navarrette: Obama needs to stop practicing "defiance politics," needs to lead
@highlight
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell could be instrumental in upcoming battles
But with this Congress, that was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time," @placeholder said Monday afternoon at a White House event that at moments seemed like a campaign gathering.