Senators in the United States have voted to move forward with a stopgap funding package aimed at ending the longest government shutdown in the country?s history.

In a procedural vote on Sunday, eight Democrats broke rank and voted in favour of advancing the Republican measure, which will keep the government open into January 30.

The bill would also fund some parts of the government, including food aid and the legislative branch, for the next year.

But there was no guarantee of an extension of expiring healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Instead, the deal struck between the centrist Democrats and the Republicans promises a vote on the issue by December.

The subsidies have been a Democratic priority during the funding battle.

Al Jazeera?s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said Sunday?s procedural vote passed with 60 in favour and 40 against.

?Now, this is what is called a cloture vote ? a procedure by which the Senate agrees to continue the debate about the legislation and begin introducing and passing the bills aimed at ending the shutdown,? Hanna said.

?The important thing about the cloture vote is that once it is passed, at that 60 percent majority, every subsequent vote is by a simple majority. So it would appear to be plain sailing in the Senate for the Republicans to pass this bill and end this closure,? he added.

The Republicans have a simple majority in the chamber.

If the Senate eventually passes the amended bill, the package still must be approved by the House of Representatives and sent to President Donald Trump for his signature, a process that could take several days.

Democrats break ranks

The Democratic senators who voted in favour of the funding package include Dick Durbin of Illinois, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, as well as Tim Kaine of Virginia.

Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted in favour.

Democrats John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada also voted yes.

Before the vote, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he could not ?in good faith? support the proposal. Schumer, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said Democrats have now ?sounded the alarm? on healthcare.

?We will not give up the fight,? he said.

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a ?horrific mistake?

Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, agreed, saying that in last week?s gubernatorial and mayoral elections, people voted overwhelmingly Democratic ?to urge Democrats to hold firm?.

Since the shutdown began on October 1, Democratic senators had voted 14 times not to reopen the government as they demanded the extension of tax credits that make coverage more affordable under the ACA.

Republicans, however, have maintained they are open to addressing the issue only after government funding is restored.

The bipartisan agreement on Sunday includes bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government ? food aid, veterans? programmes and the legislative branch, among other things ? for next year. All other funding would be extended until the end of January, giving legislators more than two months to finish additional spending bills.

The deal would reinstate federal workers who had received workforce reduction or layoff notices and reimburse states that spent their own funds to keep federal programmes running during the shutdown.

It would also protect against future reductions in force through January and guarantee federal workers would be paid once the shutdown is over.

?Enormous uproar?

Niall Stanage, a political analyst and the White House columnist for The Hill, said the eight Democrats who voted in favour of the package have caused an ?enormous uproar? within the party.

?The critics within the Democratic Party note that the party won a number of significant elections just last Tuesday. They believe they had the upper hand and they have been effectively sold out by these eight who have voted to open the government,? he told Al Jazeera.

It was unclear whether the two parties would be able to find any common ground on the healthcare subsidies before the promised December vote in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he will not commit to bring it up in his chamber.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies and argue that tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals.

Other Republicans, including Trump, have used the debate to renew their years-long criticism of the law and called for it to be scrapped or overhauled.

Meanwhile, the consequences of the 40-day shutdown have been compounding. US airlines cancelled more than 2,000 flights on Sunday for the first time since the shutdown began, and there were more than 7,000 flight delays, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel disruptions.

Treasury Secretary Sean Duffy said on CNN?s ?State of the Union? that air travel before the Thanksgiving holiday will be ?reduced to a trickle? if the government does not reopen.

At the same time, food aid was delayed for tens of millions of people as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were caught up in legal battles related to the shutdown.

And in Washington, DC, home to tens of thousands of federal workers who have gone unpaid, the Capital Area Food Bank said it is providing 8 million more meals before the holidays than it had prepared for this budget year ? a nearly 20 percent increase. (ALJAZEERA)

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