<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate has used one of the first votes of its lame-duck session to accept a pay raise for the fourth consecutive year.</p>
<p>The Senate, without debate, used its second vote on Wednesday to reject 58-36 a measure by Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record), D-Wis., that would have denied the congressional pay raise.</p>
<p>With the slumping economy and financial markets, job layoffs and federal budget deficits, "this is the wrong time for Congress to give itself a pay hike," Feingold said in a statement.</p>
<p>The House cleared the way for the raise in July.</p>
