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By Sarah Ferris, Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN (CNN) — The Senate on Friday failed to pass a bill to pay federal workers forced to work without pay during the government shutdown, with Democrats refusing to yield to GOP attempts to fund any parts of the federal government without major concessions for their party. The shutdown – already the longest on record – is now likely to extend into next week as painful consequences impact millions of Americans across the country, from major air travel disruptions to uncertainty over critical federal aid programs. The vote was 53 to 43. Three Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans in support: Sens. Ben Ray Lujan, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock The federal worker pay bill from GOP Sen. Ron Johnson failed even after Republicans said they would add language specifically requested by Democrats to pay both workers who are required to work during the shutdown — also known as “essential” workers — as well as the hundreds of thousands of workers who were furloughed. It’s the latest sign that the record-long stalemate on Capitol Hill is not close to an end. Just days earlier, GOP leaders believed Democrats were on the cusp of accepting their proposal of a future vote on the health care subsidies. Now, an exasperated Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been left with no real path forward as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrats line up behind an offer of their own that GOP lawmakers have widely rejected. In response to the vote on the federal pay bill, Democrats, for their part, said they were refusing to yield to a funding measure that limits the shutdown pain for only some Americans. “We cannot leave any Americans behind in this critical moment — we must reopen all of the government and prevent Americans’ costs from spiking because of Republican in action,” said a memo obtained by CNN from Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations panel. Ahead of the vote, Schumer said that Democrats would agree to end the shutdown in exchange for a one-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, an issue that has become the key sticking point in the shutdown stalemate. “Democrats are offering a very simple compromise,” Schumer said, with dozens of Senate Democrats sitting beside him on the floor. “Now, the ball is in the Republicans’ court. We need Republicans to just say yes.” But Senate Republicans, who have said they won’t negotiate over the health care subsidies until the government is open, quickly dismissed the offer as unserious. “I think everybody who follows this knows that’s a nonstarter,” Thune told reporters. “The Obamacare extension is the negotiation. That’s what we’re going to negotiate once the government opens up.” Inside the Capitol, the mood among Republicans is exasperation. Many — including Thune — felt blindsided by the Democrats’ abrupt shift away from bipartisan talks this week. They want clearer pressure from Trump on Democrats — rather than just asking his own party to end the filibuster. The House, meanwhile, has been out of session since September 19, with those GOP lawmakers growing increasingly restless and frustrated at home in their districts. House Speaker Mike Johnson has maintained he will not bring back the chamber until Senate Democrats agree to reopen the government — preventing votes, hearings and most major committee work. GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, meanwhile, said he “literally begged” Democrats to support the federal worker pay bill and fought to convince his fellow GOP senators to add furloughed workers to the measure. “If you’re going to force them to work, at a minimum, let’s be sure to pay them. And pay them on time,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t quite that easy…But in the end, we overcame objections in our conference… We completely amended the bill now. We’ve added furloughed workers.” A visibly frustrated Thune took the floor before the vote on Friday to accost Democrats for blocking the bill. “Everybody in this chamber is going to be put on the record on whether or not they want to pay federal employees,” Thune said. “I am tired of political games, I really am.”
