The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved an amendment to a sweeping Wall Street reform bill that would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to bail out financial institutions. It was the bill's first amendment.

Offered by Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, the measure underscored wide agreement in Congress that the massive Bush administration bailouts in 2008 of firms such as AIG, Citigroup and Bank of America should not be repeated.

A related and more controversial amendment -- one that would set up a new 'orderly liquidation' process for the government to seize and dismantle troubled financial giants -- was expected to come to a vote shortly in the Senate.

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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