WASHINGTON — Lawmakers yesterday denied themselves a pay raise next January but, with an eye toward a better economic and political climate, decided to retain their automatic cost-of-living raises for future years.

A blur of last-minute procedural maneuvering in the Senate late last night produced a salary package for members of Congress that holds their annual pay at $174,000 until 2011.

Earlier in the day, on a 52-45 vote, senators rejected a more politically painful proposal that would have forced lawmakers to stand up and be counted when they want to boost their salaries. Democratic Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel K. Inouye of Hawai'i both voted to kill the amendment.

No senator dared to dump on that idea publicly, with the economy tanking, 12 million constituents unemployed and the 2010 elections looming.