A compromise is something that can be rarely found in today’s day and age, given the current political climate. Is it really that shocking that one couldn’t be reached between Congress and the president?

As a Valentine’s Day present to the country, President Donald Trump announced the news that he will be signing a bill to open the government for the foreseeable future.

For the past twenty-one days, Democrats and Republicans have been scrambling to come up with a deal that would make both parties happy. The hottest point of contention: funding for the border wall.

“I’ve just had an opportunity to speak with President Trump, and he would, I would say to all my colleagues, has indicated that he’s prepared to sign the bill,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “[The president] will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time.”

An argument can be made that the combination of a bipartisan bill that doesn’t fund the wall and Trump using his executive power in an unprecedented way is indeed a form of compromise. Regardless of what your opinion on the matter is, if this is the end solution, it still means the government shutdown was pointless. Trump could have used his executive power months ago.

5.7 billion was the magic number. That’s how much funding Trump wanted for the wall, fence, barrier or whatever you want to call it. This latest bill only gives him $1.375. Most are expecting Trump to declare a national emergency, allowing him to “build the wall” without Congress’s approval.

The whole point of this deal was for Republicans and Democrats to compromise on a bill that would fund the government and the wall. Trump (potentially) using his executive power to declare a national emergency makes all of this debate worthless. In other words, shutting the government down for 35 days was pointless if Trump uses his executive power.

Let that sink in. The government shutdown didn’t need to happen. Thousands of workers had to live without a paycheck, for no reason. Some may say, “oh, they get the money back when the government opens!” While that may be true, for people working paycheck to paycheck, they might not be able to make ends meet.

The good news to come out of this is that at least the government is open. The bad news? We’ll have to wait to see the long term effects of the new spending bill.