As the new, divided Congress is sworn in the notorious criminal organization calling itself the United States Government remains partially shutdown. Trump's captured party holds control of the Senate, with the Lich McCain dead, the unreliable Jeff Flake gone, and Mitt Romney stuck trying to play the GOP's Pantsuitist voice of dissent all by his lonesome. Meanwhile the overt Pantsuitists control the lower house, but they suffer a wide, flat distribution among members of professed ideologies with less in common the ever beyond a shared belief that "Orange man bad" for wanting to to bring the USG's goals back down to what little remains of its abilities.

With Trump ending at least one of the USG's long running Infinity Wars (8 years of hostilities in a foreign land without a formal declaration of hostilities) and scaling back the others, Congress still won't find Trump money for any sort of physical barrier on the southern border. Apparently he's trying to be flexible and compromise. 5.6 billion USD was his ask, but he'll take half. A wall would be nice, but he'll take a fence of spiked steel slats.

But such things go against USG principles as Congress imagines them. A physical barrier is impractical when Boeing can sell a "virtual fence" with cameras, drones, and a pricey ongoing maintenance contract.