WASHINGTON — Officially, Republicans blame Democrats for what on Saturday will be the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history. Republican lawmakers and aides worry that Mr. Trump has misunderstood Democrats’ incentives to stand firm and that he has deputized the wrong aides to press his case. And they question who — if anyone other than the president — has the authority to resolve the impasse. They describe a dysfunctional dynamic where even senior leaders in Mr. Trump’s own party never know quite what to expect from the president. The president’s about-face — and House Republicans’ decision to add $5.7 billion in wall funding to the Senate bill — precipitated the shutdown, which reaches Day 22 on Saturday.

Source: New York Times January 11, 2019 23:26 UTC