WASHINGTON — Republicans in the Senate have killed legislation sponsored by President Barack Obama to spend $60 billion on building and repairing roads, rail lines and other infrastructure to help kick-start the sluggish economy.

The 51-49 vote fell well short of the 60 votes required under Senate procedures to start work on the bill. The infrastructure measure is the third in a string of Senate defeats for Obama’s stimulus-style jobs agenda, which would be financed by a tax surcharge on the very wealthy.

Despite the repeated losses, Democrats seem to think they’ve found a winning issue in pressing popular ideas from Obama’s poll-tested jobs package. Republicans counter that the president is more interested in picking political fights than in seeking compromise.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.