Senate Republicans blocked bipartisan war powers resolution to halt President Donald Trump's Caribbean drug boat strikes and possibly future military action without consent from Congress.

Senate Democrats moved to center stage in the U.S. government shutdown drama on Thursday, as they met behind closed doors to consider what the chamber's top Republican said was an offer to reopen shuttered federal agencies as early as this weekend.

Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation Thursday that would have put a check on U.S. President Donald Trump's ability to launch an attack against Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger role in Trump's high-stakes campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The Senate stalemate dragged on Thursday, and Senate Democrats remained in high spirits after clinching an Election Day sweep and ending optimism the shutdown could end this week.

This year's election year battle for control of the U.S. Senate is intensifying, as voter disaffection for President Donald Trump's response to the COVID-19 pandemic weighs on a growing number of Senate races in the South and Midwest.

The federal shutdown enters its 36th day and the history books by breaking the 35-day record set in 2018-2019.

Virts withdrew from his longshot bid for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican John Cornyn. Instead, he's running for Texas' 9th Congressional District.

By David Morgan, Richard Cowan and Katharine Jackson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Bipartisan efforts in the U.S. Senate to reopen the federal government as early as this week gave way to fresh signs of frustration on Tuesday,