Democratic leaders pledged to try to put together another financial rescue bill, but it was unclear whether there was enough support for even a revised plan.
Congressional staffers told CNBC that there wouldn't be any votes on a new bailout plan until Thursday at the earliest.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was prepared to work in a bipartisan way with Republicans to get financial bailout legislation approved.
Pelosi, a Democrat, also told reporters she spoke to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson soon after a $700 billion bill to jump-start stalled capital markets was rejected by the House in a vote of 228-205.
Stocks plunged on Wall Street even before the vote to reject the bill was announced on the House floor. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down about 600 points.
The failure of the bailout bill-after more than a week of intensive closed-door negotiation intended to hammer out a compromise plan-brought new uncertainty about the response of the government to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
CNBC