To the relief of the White House, the Senate has voted not to call Ms Monica Lewinsky as a "live" witness in the impeachment trial of President Clinton.
She had already given confidential videotaped testimony, but the Republican prosecutors yesterday urged the Senate to hear and see Ms Lewinsky testify live.
But Ms Lewinsky will be seen in the trial on videotape as a result of another vote.
Democrats voted solidly against the motion to call Ms Lewinsky in person and were supported by 25 Republicans who were clearly uneasy at the thought of Ms Lewinsky being questioned on the floor of the Senate.
Opinion polls have shown over 70 per cent do not want the former White House intern to be called to testify in this way.
But in a separate vote, the Senate voted to allow videotape of the testimony of Ms Lewinsky, Mr Vernon Jordan and Mr Sidney Blumenthal to be used in the legal arguments of the prosecution and the White House defence.
In this ballot 10 Democrats voted with Republicans to allow the videotaped extracts.
The impeachment trial is now on course to finish by the target date of February 12th, the Senate majority leader, Senator Trent Lott, said as the trial resumed yesterday.
The White House legal team opposed the calling of Ms Lewinsky and any use of videotaped testimony.
It said it could agree to just the transcripts of the testimony being made available. Mr Greg Craig, for the White House, told the Senate that releasing the videotapes would mean they could be played "wall-to-wall" on television and embarrass the witnesses as well as being unfair to President Clinton.
Mr Craig recalled the widespread protests when the Starr report, with its salacious details and videotape of Mr Clinton's grand jury testimony, were released last September.
Senator Lott set out the likely timetable for the closing phases of the four-week trial. After a one-day adjournment today, the trial would resume tomorrow to allow the Republican prosecutors and the White House defence to give their final presentations.
This stage could be wrapped up on Monday next. Then the 100 senators would go behind closed doors to deliberate on their votes on the articles of impeachment accusing President Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice. Each senator would be allowed 15 minutes to explain his or her vote.
Senator Lott hoped that the senators would not avail themselves of their full allocation, which could stretch out over three days. If they were prepared to forgo some of their time, the trial could end by next Thursday or Friday, he said.
Meanwhile, President Clinton began his day at a prayer breakfast at which he asked for prayers for Northern Ireland where in spite of the peace agreement there were now "difficulties".
The President did not refer to the impeachment trial. But Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman urged members of Congress and others at the prayer breakfast "at this time of difficulty for the President, that you hear his prayer, that you help him with the work he is doing with his family and his clergy, that you accept his atonement". A spokeswoman for Ms Lewinsky said: "Monica and her family are pleased that she will not have to go through the painful and humiliating ordeal of having to testify on the floor of the Senate. The Lewinsky family hopes that closure will come for everyone else involved."
On Capitol Hill, support diminished for a plan by the Republican senators to vote a "finding of fact" resolution stating that President Clinton "wilfully provided false and misleading testimony to the grand jury" and that he "wrongfully engaged" in obstruction of justice. Democrats are firmly opposed to such a motion before the trial ends and a number of Republicans are also uneasy at what they see as an unconstitutional move.
The Democrats say they are ready to consider a motion of censure against the President but only after the impeachment trial is over.
The White House adviser, Mr Sidney Blumenthal, acknowledged on Wednesday that President Clinton lied to him about the President's relationship with Ms Monica Lewinsky, CBS television reported.