Senate Republicans on Thursday rejected a bill to aid small businesses with expanded loan programs and tax breaks, a procedural blockade that underscored how fiercely determined the party's leaders are to deny Democrats any further legislative accomplishments before November's midterm elections.

The small business measure, championed by Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, had the backing of some of the Republican party's most reliable allies in the business world, including the United States Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business. Several Republican lawmakers also helped write it.

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