Article snippet: Efforts by centrist lawmakers to break away from their party leaders and build a compromise that would end the government shutdown are floundering. The failure to reach a consensus outside of leadership is another indication that the shutdown won’t end unless a deal is struck by the principals: Speaker MORE. The centrists’ idea was straightforward and simple: Write a letter urging Trump to reopen the government for three weeks and, in that time, negotiate a compromise on border security. But Trump earlier this week said he rejected a similar idea, and Vice President Pence informed GOP senators the White House opposed the plan. Senate Republicans say the letter-writing effort wasn’t helped by the fact that Schumer urged House Democrats at a caucus meeting Wednesday to pressure Senate Republicans to sign the letter. As of Wednesday afternoon, only a handful of Senate Republicans and Democrats had signed the letter to Trump, and it was uncertain whether the missive would even be sent. Sen. MORE (D-W.Va.), who has signed the letter and attended bipartisan meetings in hopes of finding a breakthrough, said the goal is to have 20 lawmakers in each conference — Republican and Democratic — sign the letter. But the effort fell far short of that ambitious goal. One Republican aide said the letter had 10 signatures on Wednesday afternoon, but cautioned the number is in flux. Sen. MORE (R-N.C.), a key lawmaker who faces a tough reelection in 2020, said Wednesday afternoon tha... Link to the full article to read more