House Rejects Bailout Bill

The economic rescue package that lawmakers spent a long weekend negotiating (H.R. 3997 for those keeping score at home) has failed to pass the House of Representatives. Democrats voted 141-94 in favor of the bill, Republicans went against, with 65 yeas and 133 nays. The final vote was 205 yeas to 228 nays, with one abstention.

The vote stayed open for about 20 minutes after the 15-minute voting time had expired to provide the leadership time to negotiate for more votes (i.e. twist enough arms and beat enough brows to put the bill over the top). That effort garnered a few scattered yeas, but not enough to achieve the necessary simple majority.

The markets showed a real-time reaction to the bill's failure, with the Dow Jones plummeting as traders tracked the vote count on TV.

Immediately after the vote, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, who voted with the nays, rose to ask when the motion would be re-voted if he moved to reconsider. The chair said it would be re-voted immediately, and Barton withdrew his request.

-- Evie Stone

1:44 PM ET | 09-29-2008 | permalink

comments | | e-mail