The Atlantic: Why Mike Pence Couldn’t End the Shutdown. “The vice president has led negotiations to reopen the government. But even after the White House’s state-of-emergency threat, he doesn’t appear to have the authority to do much about it.”

“White House allies on the Hill and former administration officials acknowledged privately that the vice president may be more hamstrung than ever, unable to capitalize on many of the strengths he was originally chosen for. But crucially, those sources said, Pence has never expressed any displeasure with his circumstances, and would never suggest, even privately they say, that Trump’s whims have made shuttle diplomacy difficult. “There’s a reason Pence has avoided the fate of so many others,“ another former senior White House official told me. “He acquiesces entirely to the will of Trump 100 percent of the time.“ “

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