http://bit.ly/2AbEv8g McConnell Faces Pressure From Republicans to Stop Avoiding Shutdown Fight United States Politics and Government, Shutdowns (Institutional) By absenting himself, the Senate majority leader had hoped to push the blame for a prolonged shutdown onto Democrats while protecting Republicans running for re-election next year — including himself. SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and NICHOLAS FANDOS http://bit.ly/2RxjXkz January 3, 2019 at 05:30AM