Quote from here:
clickIt’s official. The start of the process of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been put on hold. Both Arkansas Democrats, Blanche L. Lincoln and Mark Pryor, joined all 40 Republicans to sustain the filibuster against the National Defense Appropriations Act. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) switched his vote at the last minute in a procedural maneuver that will allow him to bring the bill back to the Senate floor for a later revote. At this time, that vote will almost certainly not take place until after the November elections during a lame-duck session.
I've seen this claim in a few places, but I haven't yet found an explanation. I don't understand how the majority leader's vote has any impact on his own ability to bring the bill back to the floor. In fact, it seems counter-intuitive; shouldn't a vote against even allowing debate
undermine, not preserve, his ability to bring it up later? (In other words, "Why do you want us to debate this again? Even
you didn't want to debate it the last time!")
Could someone who knows more about Senate procedure please shed light on this?