Just voted YES on the second-time’s-the-charm cloture vote on the Dodd financial regulation bill.
UPDATE: Cloture just passed, 60-40. Scott Brown was the 60th vote. Arlen Specter was a yes. Feingold and Cantwell were still nos.
UPDATE II: If the GOP lets them, Democrats might vote on the bill as soon as tonight — with the Blanche Lincoln derivatives language intact. That lasts until conference committee, I’ll bet.
UPDATE IV: No official word on why he switched, but here is Brown yesterday, saying that his last minute decision to stand with the GOP on the first cloture vote was about the derivatives language, which could hit insurance companies in Massachusetts:
Sen. Scott Brown acknowledged tonight that he did indeed tell Majority Leader Harry Reid he’d support financial reform legislation, before voting to filibuster at the last minute. But he says he’s confident he’ll ultimately side with the Democrats, and suggested he may switch his vote back to yes as early as tomorrow.
“I’m confident that something will be resolved,” Brown told reporters tonight. He claims his last minute defection was based on remaining objections he has to rules restricting high risks trades by financial companies, which he says will adversely impact insurance companies and trusts in his state.
“When he told me that I let him down, I told him straight up that I certainly felt badly about it, but bottom line is representations were made, issues were not resolved and here we are,” Brown said.
I guess Reid told Brown that the derivatives stuff was not long for the earth.