Centrist senators are giving up hope of avoiding a government shutdown this week after a contentious meeting between President Trump and congressional leaders Monday failed to make progress on a short-term funding bill.

One Democratic senator who requested anonymity said it’s now highly unlikely that Trump and congressional leaders will reach any preliminary agreement to allow a funding bill to pass by Tuesday’s deadline.

The source said both GOP and Democratic leaders appear to be itching for a shutdown and feeling confident they’ll score political points with their parties’ bases.

Those hardened positions have quashed behind-the-scenes efforts by a group of moderate Democrats and Republicans to work out some sort of mutual understanding or soft deal to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

“There’s a lot of interest in seeing a resolution but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be shared by leadership of the other side or the president. Trump wants a shutdown and the House Democrats want a shutdown,” the source said.

The pressure that House Democrats are putting on Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and the Senate Democratic caucus to take a hard line over the funding bill is a major factor because Schumer became the target of an angry backlash from progressives when he voted in March for a partisan House-passed funding bill.

Schumer’s vote for the GOP-drafted funding bill in March caught House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) by surprise. Senate Democratic sources say Schumer is intent that he and Jeffries stay on the same page during this fight.

Senate Democratic sources also say that Schumer’s leadership is increasingly drawing........

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