GOP House to ignore Democratic Senate on funding bills (UPDATE) Members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) protest against government employee furloughs during the government shutdown, outside of the U.S. Capitol on October 4, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Congress remains in a stalemate on the budget deal as the government shutdown goes into its fifth day. WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. House voted unanimously Saturday in favor of giving back pay to federal employees when they return to work following the government shutdown. The House voted 407-0 to pass the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act, The Hill reported. Republicans said they would vote on more piecemeal funding bills Saturday even though Democrats insist on a comprehensive spending bill. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told reporters Friday the House would vote on funding for border protection and Head Start. The House Friday passed bills that will fund the National Institutes of Health, Federal Emergency Management Agency and allow the reopening of national parks, monuments and museums. The Republicans, who had refused to authorize a larger budget bill that included funding for healthcare reform, have been passing the agency-specific bills as part of a strategy to shift the blame for the government shutdown to the Democrats, The New York Times said Saturday. Democrats prefer a full spending measure that raises the debt ceiling because piecemeal bills mainly cover programs popular with Republicans and leave others unfunded. "The issue here is whether we're going to pick winners and losers by providing temporary funding for governmental services, operations and personnel," said Rep. David Price, D-N.C. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has warned the Senate will not vote on the smaller bills passed by the House and will negotiate with the GOP only if Republicans agree to end the government shutdown with no strings attached.