The Hill News

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) on Tuesday predicted a Thursday vote on the Wall Street reform bill he has nearly ushered through the Senate.

Dodd said the support announced Monday from Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) will make it possible for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to hold the vote by the end of the week. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), another skeptic, also announced his support for the bill on Tuesday.

“It’s partly based on what the Republicans want to do. I presume the leader will keep us in on Friday if they want to run the 30 hours afterwards,” Dodd told The Hill, referring to the mandatory amount of time prescribed by Senate rules for a post-cloture motion.

Dodd said he was grateful for Collins, Brown and Snowe’s support for the bill and that the senators improved the bill with their input.

“All through the process â€" not just at the end â€" they made contributions to the bill,” Dodd said. “We listened to them carefully, and I’m very appreciative of their support.”

Dodd said it remains “a possibility” that the final vote tally could exceed 60 votes. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa was the fourth Republican to support the bill before conference negotiations in May, along with Collins, Brown and Snowe. Dodd said Tuesday that he doesn’t know whether Grassley will vote for the bill this time, but that others are lobbying the senator. Democratic aides said Monday that leaders aren’t counting on Grassley’s vote.