Article snippet: Several recent polls show Trump bearing most of the blame for the shutdown, political fallout that some Republicans fear could affect the party as a whole. Friday marks the first day that hundreds of thousands of federal employees will miss their paychecks and agencies, such as the National Park Service, have had to suspend or curtail their operations. On Saturday, the shutdown will set the record for the longest in U.S. history. Lawmakers left the nation's capital on Friday after talks between Trump and top Democrats to end the shutdown collapsed in acrimonious fashion and no new meetings have been scheduled. Trump has sought to highlight ways his administration is trying to ease the pain of the shutdown, confirming in his Friday remarks that he will sign legislation granting federal employees back-pay once the shutdown ends. Congress passed the legislation earlier in the day. Some GOP lawmakers have nonetheless been eager to find an off-ramp from the standoff as the pain from the shutdown is beginning to be felt. The White House has looked at $13.9 billion in funding approved by Congress last year as part of a disaster response bill to use for building Trump’s wall in the event he declares an emergency. That bill provided funding for various Army Corps of Engineers projects that has been allocated but not spent. But that idea received blowback from lawmakers representing states and territories, such as Texas and Puerto Rico, that were hit by devastating hurri... Link to the full article to read more