Another loss for Frist -- and the curmudgeon, Ted Stevens. The Senate voted to block final passage of the Defense bill over the Arctic Refuge drilling that Stevens inserted:
Drilling backers fell four votes short of getting the required 60 votes to avoid a threatened filibuster of the defense measure over the oil drilling issue. Senate leaders were expected to withdraw the legislation so it could be reworked without the refuge language. The vote was 56-44.
