Brown Helps Democrats Break GOP Filibuster

The election of Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) energized Republicans as it ensured that he would give them a critical 41st vote to help them block Democrats and filibuster key legislation.

So in the second vote of his Senate career, Brown promptly voted to help Democrats cut off a Republican filibuster of a $15 billion jobs bill engineered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

"It's not a perfect bill," Brown said shortly after voting. "I was comfortable with that vote."

Brown defended his vote, saying he was concerned about putting people back to work.

"Anytime you can make a small step, it's still a step," said Brown.

Brown joined Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), George Voinovich (R-OH) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.) in voting with Democrats to quash the GOP filibuster.

Sixty votes is the magic number to have operational control of the Senate. Brown's epic upset win gave Republicans 41 seats and the chance to block Democrats on controversial bills.

Fox News' John Brandt and Carl Cameron contributed to this report.