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Article snippet: Senate Minority Leader MORE (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday defended his decision to back a spending measure and end the government shutdown without securing protections for certain young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Schumer said that Senate Democrats "cut the best deal" possible in ending the shutdown and getting Senate Majority Leader "All of us in the Democratic caucus – not just the moderates but the liberals as well – came to the view that if we carry [the shutdown] on much longer, A.) no one would budge; the public would lose support for the shutdown – the public does not love shutdowns – and we would actually lose support for Dreamers too, because people love the Dreamers but don’t want the government shutdown for it," he said. ADVERTISEMENT Pushed by Maddow on whether Senate Democrats caved to political pressure from Republicans, Schumer said that his caucus' hands were tied in the matter, because the GOP holds the majority in both chambers of Congress. "We’re doing everything we can. But what people have to understand is, we don’t have a magic wand," he said. "If we became the majority next year, if the House becomes the majority, we will get Dreamers." Schumer also acknowledged that there was no guarantee that McConnell would keep his commitment to address the issue early next month, but said that Democrats would "hold his feet to the fire." Schumer and several Senate Democrats have faced scrut... Link to the full article to read more