*** UPDATE *** 4:45 PM ET: In a press conference after the vote, Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins announced that they will introduce a stand-alone bill to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and that Senate Majority Leader Reid has promised to support it. Reid told Lieberman that he will bring the legislation up for a vote before the end of the lame duck session, the Connecticut lawmaker said. 
 
 "We're not going to give up," Lieberman said. "We're going to keep fighting until the last possible minute in the session." 
 
 Collins said that she was "very disappointed" that Reid "walked away from negotiations" and brought the bill up for a vote before an agreement on the process of the debate had been reached and the 60 votes needed to move forward were assured. 
 
 If the Senate approves the standalone measure, the House would have to approve it as well. 
 
 4:08 pm ET: A key procedural vote on the bill containing a repeal of the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy failed Thursday, likely dealing a final blow to advocates who hoped to overturn the 17-year old ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military during this session of Congress. 
 
 Democrats needed 60 votes to advance the Defense Authorization bill for debate on the floor. The vote failed, 57-40. 
 
 Ultimately, Majority Leader Harry Reid called for the vote without having reached a procedural agreement with moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who supports repeal but wanted greater openness for the process of amending and passing the bill. Collins voted aye on the measure, but other Republicans who support repeal but had voiced similar procedural concerns -- Sens. Scott Brown and Lisa Murkowski -- voted no. 
 
 One Democrat, newly-elected Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, broke with his party to vote no. 
 
 The result means that repeal of the ban, enacted in 1993, is unlikely to be changed by Congress anytime soon. The policy is also currently being considered in court proceedings. 
 
 Supporters of repeal, including Adm. Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, have warned that a failure of congressional action could mean a hasty and disorderly implementation of a change if the courts overturn the policy first. 
 
 Opponents of repeal say that a change in policy during wartime could disrupt the effectiveness and safety of troops in combat. A recent survey showed that troops serving in combat and members of the Marine Corps were more likely than other servicemembers to voice concerns about the consequences of repeal. 
 
 In remarks shortly before the vote, Reid blamed Republicans – but not Collins – for blocking the massive defense measure from coming to the floor. 
 
 "It's quite clear that they're trying to run out the clock," Reid said of GOP opponents before calling for the vote. 
 
 Reid went out of his way to praise Collins for trying to reach an arrangement that would have paved the way for Democrats to win the 60 votes they need to advance the measure containing the DADT language. "She's tried," Reid said. 
 
 Collins said on the Senate floor that she was "perplexed and frustrated" that the bill would fall victim to "politics." 
 
 "I just do not understand why we can't proceed on a path... that will allow us to get the 60 votes to proceed," she said. 
 
 NBC's Ken Strickland contributed ||||| Drew Angerer/The New York Times , Republican of Maine, and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman , independent of Connecticut, center, announced shortly after the vote their intention to introduce a new bill to repeal “ don’t ask, don’t tell .” Senator Mark Udall , Democrat of Colorado, joined them at the podium. , Republican of Maine, and Senator, independent of Connecticut, center, announced shortly after the vote their intention to introduce a new bill to repeal “.” Senator, Democrat of Colorado, joined them at the podium. 
 
 A Republican senator and an independent senator said today that they will jointly introduce a stand-alone bill to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy after a larger defense bill containing the repeal failed to advance in the Senate. 
 
 Senate Republicans blocked the attempt to move ahead with the bill that would have repealed the ban on gay troops serving openly in the military. The vote was 57-40, almost entirely along party lines, and three short of the 60 needed. 
 
 The vote was a setback to President Obama and the Democratic leadership, who have made repealing the Clinton-era policy a key priority. And it short-circuited the efforts of a handful of Republicans who said they supported a repeal but wanted more time to negotiate the process of debating and voting on the measure. 
 
 The lawmaker leading that effort, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, voted in favor of the motion but was not joined by any of her colleagues. Ms. Collins and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent, announced shortly after the vote their intention to introduce a new bill. 
 
 “I am convinced that there are 60 or even 61 or 62 votes to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’,” Ms. Collins told reporters. “I’m extremely disappointed that the Senate majority leader walked away from negotiations in which we were engaged and which were going well.” 
 
 
 
 A spokesman for Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said Mr. Reid will co-sponsor the stand-alone legislation. “We do intend to take a free-standing bill to the floor,” said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Mr. Reid. 
 
 But a bill focused solely on repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy faces steep challenges, including the likelihood that supporters of the policy in the Senate could seek to offer numerous amendments during a debate over the legislation. 
 
 In a statement, President Obama said he was disappointed that “yet another filibuster” by Republicans had blocked the defense bill and the provisions to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. 
 
 “A minority of Senators were willing to block this important legislation largely because they oppose the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” Mr. Obama said. “While today’s vote was disappointing, it must not be the end of our efforts. I urge the Senate to revisit these important issues during the lame duck session.” 
 
 Mr. Reid had called for the procedural vote on the overall defense bill despite having failed to reach agreement with the Republicans on how to proceed. In a statement after the vote, Ms. Collins said those negotiations were “going well” and she accused Mr. Reid of walking away from the discussions. 
 
 Republicans had earlier indicated that without an agreement about the number of amendments and the timing of the debate, they would vote against moving forward to vote on the legislation. 
 
 Advocates of repealing the policy criticized the vote, saying the effort to allow gays to serve openly in the military had fallen victim to political squabbles in the Congress. One newly elected Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, also voted against the measure. 
 
 “Today leaders of both parties let down the U.S. military and the American people,” said Joe Solmonese, president of Human Rights Campaign. “Instead of doing what is right, ‘the world’s greatest deliberative body’ devolved into shameful schoolyard spats that put petty partisan politics above the needs of our women and men in uniform.” 
 
 Mr. Solmonese vowed that “this fight is too important to give up despite this setback and we will continue fighting in this lame duck session. It’s not over.” 
 
 A veterans group also expressed anger at the vote, which delays approval of the massive military spending bill to which the repeal was attached. The Congress has not failed to pass a military spending bill for decades. 
 
 “By voting to filibuster the Defense Authorization Act, today, a minority of Senators have betrayed our troops,” said Ashwin Madia, interim chairman of VoteVets.org. “Leaving aside ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ this bill is crucial to our military readiness, and funding our troops in harm’s way.” 
 
 Prior to the vote, Mr. Reid conceded that that the failure to reach an agreement could doom the effort to repeal the policy, which has been a key priority for President Obama and gay activists. 
 
 “Despite the critical importance for our troops, for our nation, and for justice that we get this bill done, we have not been able to reach an agreement,” Mr. Reid said this afternoon. “And I regret to say that it is our troops who will pay the price for our inability to overcome partisan political posturing.” 
 
 Mr. Reid’s decision to move forward in an attempt to force a vote caught senators off guard, including Ms. Collins, who had been negotiating with Mr. Reid about the terms of the debate. 
 
 In an impassioned, impromptu speech, Ms. Collins complained that she wanted to vote in favor of the overall bill, including the repeal provision, but could not do so without an agreement on the process first.
– Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell will get another chance. Republican Susan Collins and Independent Joe Lieberman say they plan to introduce a stand-alone measure in the lame-duck session, and Harry Reid says he's on board, reports MSNBC. It's no gimme by any stretch—opponents could try to talk it to death with amendments, for one thing, notes the Times—but "we're not going to give up," says Lieberman. Assuming it comes up after the tax issue is settled, it could theoretically pick up three decisive pro-repeal votes from Scott Brown, Lisa Murkowski, and Dick Lugar, writes Greg Sargent at his Plum Line blog. The measure that failed today (by three votes) was part of a larger defense bill, and Harry Reid knew it was going to fail when he brought it up for vote, writes Sargent. So why did he do it? He figured it was doomed anyway—that even if he had agreed to Collins' demands for four days of debate, others wouldn't abide by that deal. "You can talk about four days until the cows come home," an aide tells Sargent. "That has very little meaning for Coburn and DeMint and others who have become very skilled at grinding this place to a halt."