Senate Agrees to Move Toward Vote on Wall Street Bill

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The Senate agreed to move toward a final vote on a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street oversight that would create a new consumer protection agency and strengthen regulation of derivative trading and other banking activities.

The procedural step was approved in a 60-40 vote that met the threshold for moving to end debate. A day earlier, a similar vote failed 57-42. Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts switched his vote to yes and Pennsylvania Democrat Arlen Specter, who was absent yesterday, also backed cloture. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid voted no yesterday in a parliamentary step that enabled him to seek another vote today.

President Barack Obama hailed the Senate vote today, saying the measure will bring “sensible” rules to the marketplace.

Reid said he would like to vote on final passage of the bill as early as today. “We could have some more votes this afternoon” on amendments and in “the best of all worlds, we would finish this thing and move on to other issues,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “We are going to try to do that.”

Reid spokeswoman Regan Lachapelle said the timing “depends on whether the Republicans will allow us to move the vote up, or whether they make us wait the full 30 hours post cloture.”

Brown was joined by two Maine Republicans, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, in voting with the Democrats, who control 59 seats in the Senate. Two Democrats -- Maria Cantwell of Washington and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin -- voted against advancing the bill.

“We recognize that there are going to be some fixes here more than likely, and also some fixes in the conference committee,” Brown said in an interview before the vote. “I’m satisfied.”


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