WASHINGTON–The Senate failed late yesterday to garner enough votes to take up a so-called “trifecta” bill that included a provision reforming the estate tax which had the strong backing of property-casualty insurance agent trade groups.

However, Senate Majority Leader William Frist, R-Tenn., a strong supporter of the bill, switched his vote to “no” at the end in a parliamentary maneuver that allows him to preserve the right to bring up the bill again when Congress returns Sept. 5.

A vote on the bill was originally scheduled for this morning, but senators agreed to take it up late yesterday in order to get a jumpstart on their summer vacation. It was one of three bills–a defense appropriations law, the trifecta bill and a pension reform act–taken up in a Senate session that did not end until 1 a.m. today.