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Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama is set to close a week jam-packed with news of a breakthrough with Cuba and new tensions with North Korea on Friday with a 1:30 p.m. EST news conference.

Just weeks removed from huge Democratic losses in the midterm elections, Obama's allies say he appears liberated -- taking executive actions to overhaul immigration rules, thaw the United States' economic and diplomatic freeze with Cuba and more.

Here are some of the questions Obama will likely face as he confronts the press one more time before he heads to Hawaii for what's left of 2014:

Did November's election result liberate you?

President Barack Obama speaks to the nation about normalizing diplomatic relations the Cuba.

A President derided as overly cautious for much of the last six years -- especially since the Republican wave of 2010 -- is suddenly no longer hesitant to use every lever the Oval Office has to offer. He's brokered a diplomatic breakthrough with Cuba, halted deportations for more than 4 million undocumented workers, green-lit Environmental Protection Agency restrictions on ozone emissions, endorsed net neutrality and extended talks with Iran to curtail its nuclear program. And that's just been in the first six weeks since Democrats lost the Senate.

With no more potential election results weighing on his actions, does Obama suddenly feel like he's free to be the President he's always wanted to be?

Republicans scoff at this notion -- and they're working quickly to curb Obama's executive authority. Dozens of states are challenging his immigration action in court, while Congress is plotting to defund him on immigration and block parts of his Cuba deal. The strength of Obama's resistance on Capitol Hill won't come fully into view until new lawmakers take office in January.

Was this the push Cuba needed to embrace democracy?

Originally posted here:
Obama to hold end of year briefing