Rift looms large with split in US Congress

The 116th US Congress was gaveled into session on Thursday, the first new Congress to convene amid a partial government shutdown, which stretched into half a month on Sunday over President Donald Trump's demands for funding for a wall on the border with Mexico.

With Democrats sweeping back to power in the House of Representatives and an unprecedented turnover rate on the Republican president's Cabinet, some media predicted that Trump's first two years may look calm compared to what lies ahead.

Some political scientists, however, say it's going to be more of the same but with the administration increasingly distracted by multiplying investigations.