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Article snippet: Talks between Senate Minority Leader MORE (D-N.Y.) and congressional Republican leaders have broken down, raising anxieties among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about finding a way to end the government shutdown. Schumer had not spoken to Senate Majority Leader MORE (R-Wis.) as of 8 p.m. Saturday evening, the shutdown’s first day. Neither side showed any signs of backing down when the Senate adjourned Saturday evening without a deal in sight. While both sides are furiously playing the blame game, McConnell thinks he has the upper hand and plans to raise pressure on Democrats by forcing votes on resolutions to reopen the government. He has introduced a three-week stopgap measure funding the government until Feb. 8, a week shorter than the House-passed spending bill that failed Friday evening. “Fewer than half of Democrats say that dealing with DACA is more urgent than keeping the government open,” McConnell said in a floor speech, pointing to a recent CNN survey about the shutdown and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which MORE ended last year. The program shields certain immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation. “I think our friends on the other side took some bad advice, really bad advice. I would hate to have to be trying to explain this myself,” he argued in another floor statement. There are doubts within each party over who is winning the fight for public opinion, however, which could have lastin... Link to the full article to read more