I MISS LINDSEY 2.0: GOP Senator Pushes Temporary Deal to Open Government.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), a close Trump ally, said he spoke with the president Sunday and recommended the government be allowed to open for about three weeks to pursue broader immigration legislation. Democrats have been proposing a variety of funding options to reopen the government, including a stopgap funding bill for the Homeland Security Department. Mr. Trump at a White House meeting last week rejected reopening the government without a commitment for funding a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mr. Graham has been one of many Senate Republicans working on ending the impasse, and moving to end it would give at least temporary relief to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who late last week missed their first paycheck since the shutdown began. So far, none of the Senate GOP efforts has been successful.

“I tried to see if we could open up the government for a limited period of time to negotiate a deal, and the president says, let’s make a deal, then open up the government,” Mr. Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.” He added: “He’s not going to give in,” Mr. Graham said.

“2.0” gag aside, this feels like Graham signaling to the Democratic leadership, “Hey, I tried my best — maybe you need to really negotiate with him.”