WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate on Wednesday failed to advance funding bills for a sixth time, continuing the federal government shutdown stalemate.

The Senate voted 54-45 to advance the Republican-backed measure that had already cleared the House, falling short of the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster. Three Democrats joined most Republicans in the vote, as in the previous instances, but the Republicans failed to gain support from any additional Democrats.

The Senate also failed to advance a measure supported by Democrats, which included provisions related to health care.

The two parties continued to trade blame for the impasse.

"Washington Democrats voted for this government shutdown -- and it's families, workers, and small businesses who are being forced to pay the price," House Speaker Mike Johnson, the top Republican in the lower chamber, said Wednesday on the social platform X.

"The government is shut down because (U.S. President Donald) Trump and the Republicans are hellbent on taking health care away from you. And they won't even come to the table to talk to us about it," Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the upper chamber, said on X, addressing the U.S. people.

Meanwhile, top Republicans are standing firm that there is nothing to negotiate on the enhanced subsidies of the Affordable Care Act before reopening the government. The GOP-led stopgap bill will fund the government through Nov. 21.

The U.S. federal government entered a shutdown on Oct. 1, marking the first shutdown in nearly seven years.

Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed during this shutdown, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office last week.

The Internal Revenue Service announced on its website Wednesday that it will furlough nearly half of its workforce -- or roughly 34,000 employees -- as part of the contingency plan in light of the ongoing federal government shutdown. Enditem