WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a bill that would have temporarily reopened the Department of Homeland Security as the longest government shutdown in the U.S. history entered the 28th day with no clear path forward.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine asked to take up a House-passed bill that would fund the department through Feb. 8. But Republican Senator James Lankford objected to the request on behalf of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to local media reports.

It's the third time McConnell has blocked the bill to temporarily reopen DHS, which is at the center of the shutdown fight over the funding of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, which is a key campaign promise made by President Donald Trump.

McConnell warned for weeks that he will not let the Senate take up any government funding bill without Trump's support.

Under the Senate rules, any senator can ask for consent to vote on or pass a bill but a single senator can also block that request.

The shutdown started on Dec. 22 due to a budget standoff in which Trump requested 5.7 billion U.S. dollars for the wall funding, and congressional Democrats firmly rejected the demand. Enditem

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