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Government remains shut down Wednesday after Senate vote fails

There have now been nine failed votes in the Senate on continued short-term funding.
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The government shutdown will continue after Senate Republicans and Democrats failed on Wednesday to pass a GOP-led short term funding bill.

The 51-44 vote once again fell short of the 60-vote threshold required to advance the measure, which Republicans have proposed to maintain current spending levels.

There have now been nine votes in the Senate on continued short-term funding.

RELATED STORY | Johnson warns standoff could lead to longest government shutdown in US history

House Speaker Mike Johnson warned this week that the current shutdown could become the longest in U.S. history. The record — 35 days — was set between late 2018 and early 2019.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said Democrats could end up feeling more of the pain from the ongoing shutdown.

"We're going to be cutting very popular Democrat programs that aren't popular with Republicans, frankly, because that's the way it works," he said. "They wanted to do this, so we'll give them a little taste of their own medicine."

Democrats have said many of the cuts, including layoffs being implemented by the administration, are illegal. Meanwhile, some federal workers still on the job have already missed a paycheck and are growing increasingly frustrated.

RELATED STORY | Trump administration begins 'reduction in force' as government shutdown continues

The union that represents rank-and-file officers of the Capitol Police called for the shutdown to end immediately.

"The longer the shutdown drags on, the harder it becomes for my officers," said Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the Capitol Police Union. "Banks and landlords do not give my officers a pass because we are in shutdown - they still expect to be paid."