
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Lawmakers brace themselves for a potentially record-breaking shutdown.
Nearly a month into the shutdown, Senate Democrats have refused to reopen the government over a dozen times. Even still, Democrats are pointing the finger at Republicans.
Although Republicans hold a majority in both chambers of Congress, there's been a hang-up in the Senate. Instead of a simple majority, the Senate actually needs 60 votes in order to pass the continuing resolution. Republicans do hold a 53-seat majority in the Senate, but they need the help of at least seven Democrats to reopen the government.
Senate Democrats have effectively voted to continue withholding paychecks from federal workers and critical benefits from the American people over a dozen times.
This is easier said than done. When the Senate voted on the GOP's clean continuing resolution on September 30, only three Democrats crossed the aisle in an attempt to keep the government open: Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Angus King of Maine.
Both Cortez Masto and King origianally voted against the bill on September 19 but flipped their votes ahead of the funding deadline. Notably, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has consistently voted with Democrats.
As a result, the government shut down and has remained closed ever since midnight of October 1.
RELATED: Democrat senator blocks vote to end shutdown to protest Trump's 'authoritarianism' in drawn-out rant

The Republicans' funding bill is clean and entirely non-ideological, while the Democrats' hyper-partisan alternative boasts a hefty $1.5 trillion price tag. Democrats have also insisted on renegotiating the Obamacare subsidies despite the fact that they won't expire until the end of the year.
Now 28 days into the shutdown, Senate Democrats have effectively voted to continue withholding paychecks from federal workers and critical benefits from the American people over a dozen times. Here is a breakdown of every time Democrats voted to keep the government shut down.
RELATED: 'These people are sick': Trump admin slams top Dem for justifying shutdown suffering

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