The Senate voted Wednesday to approve fast-track authority, securing a big second-term legislative win for President Obama after a months-long struggle. 
 
 The 60-38 Senate vote capped weeks of fighting over the trade bill, which pitted Obama against most of his party — including Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro PelosiOvernight Health Care: Medicaid's popularity on the ballot in four red states | GOP in a bind on pre-existing conditions | Pelosi urges Dems to push health message day before midterms Election Countdown: Trump frames midterm as referendum on presidency | Senate seats most likely to flip | Huge turnout raises Dem hopes | Controversy over Trump ad | Weather forecast has storm headed to key states | DOJ to monitor voting in 19 states On The Money: Robust economy drowned out by Trump's midterm message | Trump downplays talk of Dems demanding tax returns | Iran sanctions take effect | IRS sparks fight over school donations MORE (D-Calif.). 
 
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 Passage of the bill is also a big victory for GOP leaders in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellThe top Senate seats most likely to flip A voter guide for the 100 million who are not planning to vote Next Tuesday’s vote will determine the future of Social Security, Medicare MORE (R-Ky.) and Speaker John Boehner John Andrew Boehner The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Presented by the Counter Extremism Project — One day to midterms | Obama, Trump face off | High turnout raises Dem hopes Boehner calls for more marijuana reforms ahead of midterms The Hill's Morning Report — What if the polls are wrong? MORE (R-Ohio). The Republican leaders worked closely with an administration they have more frequently opposed to nudge the trade bill over the goal line. 
 
 Labor unions and liberal Democrats had fought hard against the authority and are likely to now turn their attention toward stopping the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal Obama is negotiating with 11 other Pacific Rim nations. 
 
 Fast-track, or trade promotion authority, will allow the White House to send trade deals to Congress for up-or-down votes. The Senate will not be able to filibuster them, and lawmakers will not have the power to amend them. 
 
 The expedited process, which lasts until 2018 and can be extended until 2021, greatly increases Obama’s chances of concluding negotiations on the TPP, which is a top goal of the president’s. 
 
 Fast-track stumbled twice before its final approval, and the struggles to move it through the House and Senate likely made the victory on Wednesday even sweeter. 
 
 “We had plenty of bumps along the road. Frankly, a few big potholes too,” McConnell said before the final vote. “But we worked across the aisle to get through all of them. That’s an example of a new Congress that’s back to work for the American people.” 
 
 The Senate on Wednesday also passed a trailer bill that includes trade preferences for African nations and a workers assistance program known as Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). The measure passed by voice vote after advancing 76 to 22 on a procedural motion. 
 
 Senators voice-voted a motion to go to a conference with the House to resolve differences over customs and enforcement legislation passed by each chamber. That bill is a high priority of Democrats who view it as essential to enforcing trade rules. 
 
 Obama’s trade agenda almost ended up in a ditch earlier this month when House Democrats defeated TAA, which Senate Democrats had insisted move along with fast-track. 
 
 The House action unexpectedly kicked the trade debate back to the Senate, to the chagrin of pro-trade Democrats in the upper chamber who thought they had finished with the contentious issue. 
 
 A group of 14 swing Democrats came under heavy pressure from unions to 
 
 oppose fast-track after it became uncoupled from TAA. Labor officials argued that GOP leaders could not be trusted to get the worker assistance package through the House. 
 
 But McConnell and Boehner assured their Democratic partners that all four pieces of Obama’s trade agenda, 
 
 including the customs bill favored by Democrats and a package of trade preferences for African nations, would pass. 
 
 “The House will consider TAA once it passes the Senate as part of a new trade preferences bill. And we are ready to go to conference on the customs bill,” Boehner pledged in a statement Tuesday ahead of a procedural vote to 
 
 advance fast-track to a final vote. 
 
 To further entice wavering Democrats to back fast-track, McConnell added to the TAA package the Leveling the Playing Field Act, which empowers U.S. companies to petition the Commerce Department to respond to trade violations. 
 
 He also furnished for Democrats a letter signed by a group of Senate Republicans pledging to support TAA. 
 
 In the end, 13 of the 14 pro-trade 
 
 Democrats voted to advance fast-track to final passage, the same number who voted for a package that combined fast-track and TAA before Memorial Day. 
 
 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) voted against ending debate on fast-track Tuesday and against final passage on Wednesday. 
 
 Pelosi, who led the effort to derail TAA earlier this month, signaled Wednesday that Democrats would accept it the second time. 
 
 “I’m disappointed that the TAA bill isn’t nearly as robust as it should be in light of a trade agreement that encompasses 40 percent of the global economy,” she wrote Wednesday in a Dear Colleague letter. “[But] while we may not all vote in the same manner on TAA, I will support its passage because it can open the door to a full debate on TPP.” 
 
 Obama fought during the battle with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who warned fast-track would enable companies to evade U.S. laws, including curbs on the financial services industry. 
 
 The critique rankled Obama, who counts the 2010 Wall Street Reform Act among his signature achievements, and he accused Warren of political grandstanding. 
 
 He said Warren is a “politician like everybody else” who has “a voice that she wants to get out there” but her arguments don’t stand the test of fact and scrutiny.” 
 
 His response did not sit well with other Democratic trade skeptics such as Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who called Obama’s comment “disrespectful” and suggested it was sexist as well. 
 
 Anti-trade Democrats say the battle now shifts to approval of the TPP, which will need only 50 votes to pass the Senate under the protections of fast-track. 
 
 “When the inexcusable and anti-democratic veil of secrecy surrounding the TPP is finally lifted and the American people see what is actually in the agreement, they are going to force their representatives in Washington to vote that deal down,” said Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen, an outspoken opponent of Obama’s trade agenda. 
 
 Mike Lillis contributed to this report. 
 
 This story was updated at 7:50 p.m. ||||| 645X363 - Full Sharing - Additional videos are suggested upon completion 
 
 The Senate on Tuesday voted to advance President Obama’s trade agenda, approving a measure to end debate on fast-track authority. 
 
 The 60-37 motion sets up a vote on final passage on Wednesday. If the Senate approves fast-track or trade promotion authority (TPA), it would then be sent to Obama’s desk to become law. 
 
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 Fast-track authority would allow Obama to send trade deals to Congress for up-or-down votes. The White House wants the authority to conclude negotiations on a sweeping trans-Pacific trade deal. 
 
 Thirteen Democrats backed fast-track in Tuesday’s vote, handing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump steps up courtship of Dems Senate defense bill at standstill over amendment fight Overnight Health Care: Sanders enjoys big moment with single-payer bill | Five things to know about Sanders's plan | Trump applauds senators' latest ObamaCare repeal effort MORE (R-Ky.) a major legislative victory. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) voted against the procedural motion. 
 
 The Democrats cast "yes" votes even though the trade package did not include a workers assistance program for people displaced by increased trade. The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program was a part of the last fast-track package approved by the Senate in May, but became a key part of opposition to the package among Democrats in the House. 
 
 To move fast-track forward, the White House and GOP leaders in both chambers decided to break TAA away from fast-track and to try to approve both in separate votes. 
 
 After the Senate votes Wednesday on final passage for fast-track, it will take a procedural vote on a package that includes TAA and trade preferences for African countries known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). 
 
 McConnell has promised both bills will reach Obama’s desk by the end of the week. 
 
 “If we all keep working together and trusting each other, then by the end of the week the President will have TPA, TAA and AGOA and Preferences on his desk,” he said on the floor. 
 
 The House has already passed fast-track but it must still vote on the package including TAA, which faces opposition from conservatives. 
 
 Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) reiterated on Tuesday his pledge to vote again on TAA as soon as it clears the upper chamber. 
 
 “The House will consider TAA once it passes the Senate as part of a new trade preferences bill. And we are ready to go to conference on the customs bill. Our goal is to get TPA and TAA to the president's desk this week and deliver this win for the American people,” he said in a statement. 
 
 The Senate vote to end a filibuster against fast-track appeared in doubt until the final moment as a group of pro-trade Democrats balked at McConnell’s decision to split it off from TAA, a move made necessary to circumvent opposition in the House. 
 
 Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Chris Coons (Del.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Patty Murray (Wash.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) refused to say publicly how they would vote. 
 
 McConnell’s margin for error shrank further when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is running for president, announced he would vote to block the bill, declaring in a Breitbart.com op-ed that it had “become enmeshed in corrupt Washington backroom dealmaking.” 
 
 Other Republican White House hopefuls, including Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, oppose fast-track. 
 
 Sen. Ron Wyden Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenIt is time to make domestic terrorism a federal crime McConnell: Blue slips shouldn't 'blackball' circuit court nominees 21st Century Fox backs bill to stop online sex trafficking MORE (Ore.), the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee, held talks with other pro-trade Democrats late into the evening Monday to address their concerns. 
 
 He delivered an impassioned speech in favor of the bill shortly before the vote, arguing that it would allow the United States to keep pace with China in the competition for Asian markets. 
 
 “This is our chance to set a new course. This is our chance to put in place higher standards in global trade on matters like labor rights and environmental protection, shine some real sunlight on trade agreements and ensure that our country writes the rules of the road,” he said. 
 
 Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who co-wrote the trade bill with Wyden, argued the vast majority of global economic growth will take place outside of the United States over the next decade. 
 
 “If our workers, farmers, ranchers and service providers are going to be able to compete in these growing markets, we must have open access to these markets and fair trade rules to boot,” he said on the floor. 
 
 Opponents led by Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) warned fast-track would cost thousands of American jobs and allow multi-national companies to evade U.S. law. 
 
 Brown reproached his colleagues for voting to give Obama fast-track authority while having little idea of the shape of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade accord that will receive expedited consideration in Congress as a result. 
 
 “We’ve gotten the worst of both worlds because we’re voting on TPA and we haven’t been able to see what’s in TPP,” Brown said before the vote. 
 
 The AFL-CIO waged a fierce lobbying campaign against fast-track for months. 
 
 “It will do nothing to prevent repeating the mistakes of failed trade policies that have contributed to stagnating wages, increasing inequality and the closure of more than 60,000 factories since 2000,” the union wrote in a letter dated Monday. 
 
 Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other business leaders applauded the development. 
 
 “Today’s vote is an important step towards revitalizing our economy, creating more good American jobs, and reasserting our country’s global economic leadership,” Donohue said in a statement. 
 
 Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) missed the vote. McConnell said Corker would have voted "yes" if he had been present, while Brown noted that Lee and Menendez would have voted "no." ||||| Getty Senate salvages Obama trade agenda More than a dozen Democrats side with the GOP to give the president fast-track authority. 
 
 With no votes to spare, the Senate salvaged President Barack Obama’s trade agenda on Tuesday, putting a measure to give him enhanced powers to strike free trade deals on track to be signed into law by the end of the week. 
 
 But the lead-up to the decisive vote exposed serious friction between the two parties over the chamber’s next big problem: the imminent shutdown of a government financial institution that conservatives despise, the Export-Import Bank. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 The trade bill advanced 60-37, with the minimum votes needed to break a Democratic-led filibuster against the so-called Trade Promotion Authority. Thirteen Democrats sided with GOP leaders on the vote, and five Republicans, including presidential contenders Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against the legislation. 
 
 But discord between pro-trade Democrats and GOP leaders was on vivid display on the Senate floor leading up to the vote. Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) could be seen having an animated talk with Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) as the Republican pressed for her support and she sought a vote to renew the Export-Import Bank charter, which lapses next week. Heitkamp mentioned “Ex-Im” several times as she weighed whether to become one of the decisive votes for the president’s push for new trade deals with European and Pacific Rim countries. 
 
 “John, I will tell you this,” Heitkamp told Cornyn, referring to the bank. “It’ll pass. It’ll pass overwhelmingly.” 
 
 But GOP leaders didn’t offer any assurances to prevent the bank’s charter from expiring at the end of the month. Ex-Im provides credit and loan guarantees to American exporters. Cornyn said that he and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remain committed to a vote on Ex-Im in July, after the bank’s authority has already lapsed. 
 
 “I think our chances of not having the Ex-Im charter expire are gone,” Heitkamp said. “This is typical of the United States Congress to not only not do things timely, but completely late and disrupt the lives of thousands of American workers and thousands of American businesses. It is a sad day that we’re gonna walk out of here without renewing the Ex-Im charter.” 
 
 Heitkamp was among several Democrats who wavered on the trade vote until the final moment. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) withheld his vote before finally voting no. When Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) swept into the chamber to deliver the 60th vote to break the filibuster, Republican leaders were elated to see him. Had he not shown, Republican leaders were prepared to hold the vote open to allow GOP Sen. Bob Corker to fly back from Tennessee to finish the job. 
 
 As the Nevadan strolled into the Senate chamber shortly after 11:30 a.m., Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) smiled at Heller and yelled: “Mr. 60!” 
 
 Democrats ultimately decided to trust McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to follow through on a joint pledge to shepherd into law both TPA — which gives Obama “fast-track” trade authority — and a measure to help laid-off workers known as Trade Adjustment Assistance. TPA will allow Obama to complete the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, but Democrats have long insisted that it be accompanied by TAA, which provides aid and job training for workers who lose their jobs to trade. 
 
 Despite the opposition of most of the party, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) did not lean on his caucus to reject the trade bill as he had at one point in May. 
 
 “I still hate the whole program,” Reid said after the vote. “I’ve never voted for a trade bill; I never even considered voting for this one. I’m not happy with it.” 
 
 Boehner and McConnell issued a flurry of promises that they will usher TAA through their respective chambers; a vote in the Senate is expected on Thursday. For many Democrats, that was enough. 
 
 “I have been assured that the House and the Senate will take up TAA and the enforcement legislation,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who was concerned as late as Monday that the workers aid bill would not pass. “I appreciate the speaker saying he’s going to take it up this week and Sen. McConnell filing cloture on it.” 
 
 Still, the reluctance to move forward was evident even among those who had announced on Monday that they would vote to advance TPA. 
 
 “What made me feel comfortable? I don’t think comfort has anything to do with it,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). “It’s the right thing for my state.” 
 
 The Senate passed a TPA/TAA package in May. McConnell and Boehner unlinked the two bills after the package could not pass the House, while promising to pass each separately in order to assuage Democrats who’ve insisted on the worker aid. 
 
 “This place has become pretty polarized over the years, and there’s not been a lot of trust,” Cornyn told reporters. “We needed to reassure our Democrat colleagues … that takes a little bit of trust. But I think it will reap benefits far beyond just this particular piece of legislation.” 
 
 Getting to 60 votes, though, took more than just trust and public promises. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who helped write the trade legislation with Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), spent Monday evening working the phones to keep as many pro-trade Democrats as he could on board. With the newly announced opposition of Cruz, leaders could lose only two pro-trade Democrats. 
 
 Wyden said he spoke with House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Monday to press GOP leaders to include the wishes of pro-trade Democrats in Senate and House-passed Customs enforcement legislation when the House and Senate iron out their differences. Meanwhile on the floor, McConnell buttonholed Cardin, who appeared to be waiting until the 60th vote was cast to register his opposition but held out until Heller arrived. 
 
 Immediately before the vote, Cardin said he’d received “a lot of interest” from the White House and trade critics who had wooed him in recent days. He said his biggest concern was over the sequencing of the bills — he wanted the worker aid package and other outstanding trade bills all tied together with the fast-track proposal. 
 
 “For reasons I don’t understand, they are bringing up TPA first,” Cardin said. “And that’s created a great deal of heartache for me.” 
 
 Indeed, Cardin’s position demonstrated how difficult the vote was for many Democrats, who found themselves under intense pressure from unions and progressives. Senate Democrats supportive of the fast-track trade legislation huddled Monday night for a strategy session, but most remained mum about how they would vote. 
 
 With the legislation hanging in the balance, anti-trade labor and liberal groups stepped up their last-minute whipping efforts, with AFL-CIO Director of Government Affairs William Samuel writing senators to vote “no” or risk “leaving U.S. workers in the lurch.” And Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), one of the most vocal opponents of the fast-track bill, railed against TPA moments before the vote, accusing Congress of turning its back on a “moral” obligation to assist the working class. 
 
 “How shameful,” Brown said. “We’re making this decision knowing that people will lose their jobs because of our action.” 
 
 But Republicans also had to deal with Cruz’s last-minute denunciation of TPA, even though he supported it last month with TAA attached. In an op-ed for Breitbart News, Cruz accused GOP leaders of cutting a deal with Democrats to keep Ex-Im alive. 
 
 “No comment,” Hatch said when asked about Cruz’s flip. “I’ve learned a long time ago, when people run for president, you really can expect some very bizarre things.” 
 
 Manu Raju contributed to this report.
– President Obama's trade agenda lives to fight another day. The Senate this morning handed him the 60 votes he needed, voting 60-37 to end debate on his request for fast-track negotiating authority. It'll vote on final passage for fast-track tomorrow, which the New York Times sees as "virtually ensured" as final passage needs just 51 votes. As earlier reported, 14 Democratic senators backed fast track in a late May vote, and 13 did so today. The timeline, per the Hill: After the fast-track vote, the Senate will vote on a package that includes Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)—a measure that would provide job training and other help to people who lose their jobs because of the trade deal. Democrats have insisted TAA be paired with the fast track; some on the other side of the aisle oppose it. The House will then need to vote on it, and both Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have pledged to make TAA law. As Politico puts it, today's vote "came as Democrats wavered on whether to trust" them to do so.