Harry Reid and the rest of the Senate are continuing the pattern of congressional deadlock. (Medill DC/Flickr)

Emergency benefits for the unemployed expired at the end of 2013, and this failure to advance the bill means it will be some time before there is any real chance of a similar bill being passed. 

That law that expired at the end of December was put in place during the financial crisis of 2008 and provided federal aid as a supplement to the 26 weeks of unemployment benefits provide by most states. In some cases, the federal aid could add up to 47 weeks of additional payments. 

The White House released a statement that said: “We will continue to work with both sides to find a solution because the cost of inaction is simply too high for these Americans fighting each and every day to find a job.”

A number of senators have expressed their hope that negotiations might continue, but the Senate currently has no plans to revisit the subject until the end of the month, after the congressional recess coming next week. 

SEE MORE: Congress Actually Passes A Budget

“I am still hopeful that while it does not look very good right now, that we can come together” and find a deal on unemployment, said Maine senator Susan Collins. 

House majority leader Harry Reid, however, said “We can’t set up a system where the minority of the Senate that opposes unemployment-insurance benefits gets both an amendment process where they can offer these poison-pill amendments and then the minority of the Senate that opposes the bill can still kill the bill.”

Following the failure to pass the bill, the Senate will turn it’s attention to the short-term spending bill to prevent a partial government shutdown and the $1 trillion budget to fund the government through the end of this fiscal year. 

Read the full story on The Wall Street Journal.

Reache Executive Producer Christopher Coppock here.