A Democratic proposal to fund the government until Oct. 31 failed in a 53-47 vote, with Republicans united in opposition, the BBC reports. A House-passed Republican proposal to fund the government for seven weeks also failed to advance after a 55-45 vote. Both measures, which needed 60 votes to pass, failed by the same margins Tuesday night, leading to the shutdown at 12:01am. As in Tuesday night’s vote, Democrats Sens. There were no signs of a breakthrough that would end the deadlock on Wednesday, the New York Times reports.