The measure fell 13 votes shy of the 218 needed for passage.

The measure's fate was in doubt as the bill's supporters scrambled to garner the needed votes. Immediately after the floor vote, a member of the prevailing side asked when the bill would be voted on if he requested that the measure be brought up for reconsideration. The speaker said a vote would be considered immediately once a request for consideration was made.

Supporters and opponents spoke passionately during the lengthy debate.

"Disasters do not discriminate. They do not ask who was to blame. Their devastation is visited most cruelly on those who are most vulnerable," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said.

Speaking against the measure, Rep. Mark Pence, R-Ind., said, "It must be said, Republicans in this Congress improved this bill but it remains the largest corporate bailout in American history, forever changes the relationship between government and the financial sector and passes the cost along to the American people. I cannot support it."

The bill would call for U.S. taxpayers to purchase billions of dollars worth of so-called toxic mortgage-backed derivative securities held by Wall Street firms at the heart of the financial crisis, with a goal of later reselling them at a profit.