BUDGET/POLITICS: “Senators failed on Sunday [1-21-18] to reach an agreement to end the government shutdown, ensuring that hundreds of thousands of federal employees would be furloughed Monday morning even as the outlines of a potential compromise came into focus.
For much of the day, feverish work by a bipartisan group of senators offered a reason for cautious optimism that a deal could be reached soon…
In a gesture to lawmakers seeking assurances that the Senate will address the fate of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants, Mr. McConnell said he intended to move ahead with immigration legislation next month if the issue had not been resolved by then.
But the deep divisions between the parties were evident as senators remained unable to reach a compromise even as the crisis was poised to deepen with the beginning of the workweek.
Senate Democrats gave no immediate sign that they would get on board with the temporary spending bill, leaving open the possibility of another failed vote on Monday that could further deepen the partisan divide three days into the shutdown.”
-Nicholas Fandos and Thomas Kaplan, “Government Shutdown Goes Into Monday as Senate Inches Toward Deal,” The New York Times online, Jan. 21, 2018