Nebraska's Nelson will vote to end debate on financial reform bill

Nebraska Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson will vote today to end debate on the Wall Street reform legislation. 

Nelson outlined his intentions in a press release and a tweet Wednesday afternoon saying, "doing nothing is not an option." 

"In my view, a vote against cloture is a vote for doing nothing," he said in a statement. "It protects the status quo and that is something that I simply can't do."

He argued that debate has been "open, fair and bipartisan" over how to make changes to financial regulations while protecting consumers.

There will be 30 hours of debate to go through the remaining amendments if 60 Senators vote to end debate at 2 p.m. 

On Tuesday, Nelson said he was undecided on how he would vote on cloture. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Tuesday afternoon he was confident he had the votes, including several from Republicans, to end debate on the financial regulatory reform bill. 

"I don't want the American people, and Nebraskans I represent, to ever again have to bail out banks as a result of irresponsible and greedy actions on Wall Street," Nelson said.