There appears to be little chance that a bipartisan agreement will be reached before a Senate vote Monday to open debate on Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D., Conn.) financial reform bill, as Republicans attempt to unify their 41-member caucus to block Democratic efforts to move forward alone.

After rollercoaster negotiations last week in which prospects for a deal seemed to change almost hourly, both sides now agree that if an agreement is struck, it won’t come in time for the cloture vote Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled for 5:00 P.M. Monday, paving the way for a Republican filibuster.

“I think that nothing happens between now and tomorrow, that the Democrats will not get cloture,” Sen. Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) said in an appearance alongside Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the banking committee.
On Monday, Shelby was interviewed on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” where he sounded equally pessimistic about a Monday vote. “I don’t believe we’ll have a deal today,” he said, adding that he will meet with Dodd at 2 P.M. “I believe we’re going to get a good bill, but that’s what we want, we want a strong bill.”

As late as Monday morning, Shelby predicted that the Republican caucus would unify to block movement on the Dodd bill, but said he was unsure it would hold together after that.

“I believe that 41 Republicans right now are going to stand together,” Shelby said of Monday’s planned 5 p.m. test vote on the Senate floor. “I wish we’d stand together, period,” he added, noting that such unity would give GOP members “more negotiating power and more clout.”

Shelby said that he has broad conceptual agreement with Dodd, but language issues remain in the consumer protection, resolution authority, and derivatives reform sections of the bill.

But there are other indications that a bipartisan agreement might not come at all. Robert Kuttner reports that President Obama has personally urged Dodd not to include Republicans in Wall Street reform, and for their part, Senate GOPers are considering offering an alternative financial overhaul bill, which has been in draft for months, if they can sustain the filibuster.