House votes to fund and reopen Interior Department, EPA and other federal agencies

The vote was 240-179, with 10 Republicans siding with Democrats.

The measure is part of a series of spending bills that House Democrats have advanced this week in an effort to put pressure on congressional Republicans and the White House as the shutdown continues.

On Friday, the shutdown reached a new milestone by stretching into its 21st day and matching the record for the longest government shutdown in US history.

For now, however, Republicans and Democrats have made virtually no progress toward reaching any kind of a deal that would end the standoff over the President's border wall that triggered the shutdown.

The President continues to insist on more than $5 billion in funding for a border wall, and congressional Democrats refuse to provide it.

As the shutdown has dragged on, the President has increasingly talked about the possibility of declaring a national emergency in an effort to secure border funding, a move that would be expected to face legal challenge if it happened.

The lapse in funding has affected roughly a quarter of the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the Interior Department and the State Department.

An estimated 800,000 federal workers have been impacted by either by having to work without pay while it lasts or by being furloughed.

CNN's Ashley Killough contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)