In a breakthrough late Sunday (local time), the US Senate advanced a funding bill after weeks of gridlock between the Democrats and the Republicans. This came as the first step towards ending the 40-day US government shutdown – the longest in history.

According to CNN , the Senate voted 60-40 to break a Democratic filibuster on the government funding legislation. Ahead of the voting, eight Senate Democrats had agreed to a deal that included a later vote on extending health care subsidies — which had been on the table for weeks — as well as assurances that federal workers laid off during the shutdown would be brought back on.

Despite the Senate vote on Sunday, there is more to come before the government can reopen. Any one senator can delay consideration of the package for several days,

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