A fragile bipartisan compromise that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants suffered a setback Thursday when it failed a test vote, leaving its prospects uncertain. Still, the measure - a top priority for President Bush that's under attack from the right and left - got a reprieve when Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would give it more time before yanking the bill and moving on to other matters.
"We need to complete this marathon," Reid said.
His decision set the stage for yet another procedural vote later Thursday that will measure lawmakers' appetite for a so-called "grand bargain" between liberals and conservatives on immigration.
By a vote of 33-63, the Senate fell far short of the 60 votes that would have been needed to limit debate on the immigration measure and put it on a path to passage. Republicans - even those who helped craft the measure and are expected to support it - banded together to oppose that move, while a majority of Democrats backed it.
Republicans were seeking assurances they would get chances to add several conservative-backed changes that would toughen the measure.
Proponents in both parties were scrambling to find a way of reversing a blow their compromise sustained earlier Thursday, when the Senate voted to phase out the bill's temporary worker program after five years.