The vice presidency is often seen as a meaningless job with little real authority, and for Mike Pence, that has never been clearer than during the partial government shutdown.
Even as Pence tries to spearhead a compromise with Democrats, holding numerous congressional meetings over the weekend, Trump is giving him "very little room to negotiate," The Atlantic reports. In fact, the vice president is seen as "sidelined" with "diminishing influence" in the White House, with one Democratic aide saying, "I don't know that he has any authority whatsoever."
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