Senate Defeats Obama Job-Creation Bill in Procedural Vote

The Senate defeated President Barack Obama's job-creation package on Tuesday in a sign that Washington is likely too paralyzed to take major steps to spur hiring before the 2012 elections.

As voting continued, opponents had amassed more than the 40 votes they needed to block the legislation in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The vote was not expected to officially close for several hours until one Democratic lawmaker returned to Washington, but that was not expected to affect the outcome.