Good morning and welcome to our coverage of US politics as the record-breaking government shutdown drags on and president Donald Trump continues to rail against various targets following Democrat electoral successes on Tuesday.

But first, let’s look at the Senate vote today on bipartisan legislation to stop an unauthorized war against Venezuela.

The proposals from Democrats Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff along with independently-minded Republican senator Rand Paul would block the use of the US armed forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela, unless that action has been authorized by Congress. This follows reports that the Trump administration is considering land strikes inside the country.

It also follows yet another deadly strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean and as an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower.

The attack on Tuesday killed two people aboard the vessel, defence secretary Pete Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters up to at least 66 people in at least 16 strikes.

A similar vote which would have blocked such strikes failed in Congress last month.

Meanwhile, Schiff said on X:

The Trump admin is laying the groundwork for potential military action inside Venezuela. Tomorrow, on a bipartisan basis, we will force a vote to block this unauthorized use of military force. Congress must assert its authority to stop America from being dragged into a new war.

In other developments:

• Democrats took a victory lap after Tuesday’s election day wins with the chair of Democratic National Committee saying the party “is all gas, no brakes” and “this is not your grandfather’s Democratic party”. Despite that, Jared Golden, a democratic representative for Maine, announced Wednesday that he wouldn’t seek re-election, which could pose a challenge for democrats in the highly contested seat.

• A federal judge in Chicago issued a temporary restraining order that requires an immigration facility to improve its conditions. The ruling came after detainees sued the government over what they say are “inhumane”, unsanitary and crowded conditions.

• Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said that if a deal isn’t reached in the government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration will cut 10% of flights in 40 major airports across the country. The announcement did not specify which 40 airports would see the reduction, but Duffy said it will affect cargo, private and passenger traffic.

• The US supreme court appeared skeptical of the legal basis of the Trump administration’s sweeping global tariff regime on Wednesday after justices questioned the president’s authority to impose the levies. The question at the heart of the case is whether the Trump administration’s tariffs violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law which only gives the president authority to “regulate or prohibit international transactions during a national emergency”.

• As he hosted Republican senators at the White House, Donald Trump offered some initial thoughts on the Democratic victories across the country on election night. “Last night, it was not expected to be a victory, it was very Democrat areas. But I don’t think it was good for Republicans,” the president said.

• On Capitol Hill, amid the government shutdown (now the longest on record), Republicans continued to rebuke Democrats for failing to pass a stopgap funding bill. House speaker Mike Johnson also used his daily press conference to both downplay and foreshadow what Tuesday’s election results suggest going forward.