Senate Democrats appeared emboldened in their shutdown posture Wednesday after a sweep in key races in Tuesday's elections. But the caucus appears split on how to proceed, with some progressives urging Democrats not to cave now on their health care demands, while some moderates engage in talks on a way out.

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 Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Friday called a Democrat proposal to reopen the government a "non-starter" as the shutdown continues.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday again called for Republican senators to terminate the filibuster rule in a bid to end what is now the longest government shutdown in history, a move that would shatter long-standing Senate norms and make it easier for the majority to jam through legislation.

Senate Republicans reject Democrat offer to extend health care subsidies for a year in order to reopen the government, as a bipartisan impasse over the longest government shutdown in US history continues and nears the 40-day mark.

GOP lawmakers rejected the president’s plan to end the record-setting shutdown by killing the 60-vote filibuster rule.

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.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina pulled even with his Democratic challenger, and in Michigan, the Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat cut into the Democratic incumbent's lead,