WASHINGTON: Feuding Democrats and Republicans in Congress are trying to dodge blame for a paralysing standoff over immigration and showing few signs of progress on negotiations needed to end a government shutdown that stretched into a second day Sunday.

“The American people cannot begin to understand why the Senate Democratic leader thinks the entire government should be shut down until he gets his way on illegal immigration,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican-Kentucky, hours after a last-chance Senate vote failed.

Democrats feel “very, very strongly about the issues” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, adding that he believes “the American people are on our side.”

Republicans began on Saturday hopeful they might pick off Democratic support for a three-week version and bring the episode to a quick end.

Democrats are insisting on an alternative lasting only several days - which they think would pressure Republicans to cut an immigration deal - and say they’ll kill the three-week version when the Senate votes on it by early Monday.

The shutdown came on the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration.

As lawmakers bickered in the Capitol, protesters marched outside in a reprise of the women’s march from a year ago. The president remained out of sight and cancelled plans to travel to his resort in Florida for the weekend.

He did tweet, making light of the timing by saying Democrats “wanted to give me a nice present” to mark the start of his second year in office.

And he resumed his social media commentary early Sunday, before lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill, tweeting that it was “Great to see how hard Republicans are fighting for our Military and Safety at the Border. The Dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked.”

He suggested that if the stalemate drags on, majority Republicans should consider changing Senate rules to do away with the 60-vote threshold to advance legislation and “vote on real, long term budget.”

Trump earlier had worked the phones, staying in touch with McConnell, while White House legislative affairs director Marc Short and budget chief Mick Mulvaney met at the Capitol with House Republicans. GOP lawmakers voiced support for the White House stance of not negotiating while the government was shuttered.

Tempers were short and theatrics high.

Lawmakers bickered over blame, hypocrisy and even the posters brought to the House floor.

While neither chamber voted on a measure to open the government, the House did vote on whether a poster displayed by Republican Republican Bradley Byrne of Alabama violated the House rules on decorum.

The House voted to allow the poster, which bore a photo of Schumer and the quote “the politics of idiocy.”

Republicans blamed the breakdown on Schumer. Democrats increasingly focused their messaging on criticising Trump, whose popularity is dismal.

Democrats were using his zigzagging stance in immigration talks - first encouraging deals, then rejecting them - to underscore his first, chaotic year in office.

“Negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with Jell-O,” Schumer said.

Short compared Democrats’ actions to “a 2-year-old temper tantrum.”

Republicans seemed content to hope additional Democrats will break as pressure builds and the impact of the shutdown becomes clearer.

GOP lawmakers argued that Democrats were blocking extra Pentagon money by keeping government closed and thwarting a long-term budget deal.

Associated Press