Senate Fails to Move Financial Bill to Final Vote (Update1)
By Alison Vekshin
May 19 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Senate today rejected a vote to move toward final action on a bill aimed at strengthening regulation of Wall Street after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
The Senate’s 57-42 vote for the cloture motion fell short of the 60 approvals needed to proceed to on the bill, throwing into doubt Democrats’ goal of passing the measure this week and moving it to be reconciled with a House plan passed in December.
Democrats said the setback would delay but not dim the bill’s prospects for final approval.
“I remain optimistic,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said at a news conference after the vote. “I am confident that we will have another vote on this, that there will be the necessary votes to allow us to have a final vote on the passage of this legislation.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said another vote may be held as soon as tomorrow…
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Cantwell said her vote was contingent on consideration of an amendment that would bar swaps dealers from trading contracts that have been rejected by a clearinghouse. She said she told Senate leadership of her plans this morning.
“There’s lots of amendments I’d like to offer, but this one is so critical to having a clear transparent marketplace that I couldn’t see moving ahead without getting a vote on it,” Cantwell told reporters after the vote.
