text: 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. 
   
   ADVERTISEMENT 
   
   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. ||||| WASHINGTON — President Obama’s ambitious trade push is back on track, after several near-death moments, in large measure because top Republicans stood by him. 
   
   The Senate on Tuesday narrowly voted to end debate on legislation granting Mr. Obama enhanced negotiating powers to complete a major Pacific trade accord, virtually assuring final passage Wednesday of Mr. Obama’s top legislative priority in his final years in office. 
   
   The procedural vote of 60 to 37 just reached the minimum needed, but final Senate passage will require only 51 votes. The House approved trade promotion authority last week. 
   
   With congressional support for “fast track” authority, the president can press for final agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a legacy-defining accord linking 40 percent of the world’s economy — from Canada and Chile to Japan and Australia — in a web of rules governing Pacific commerce. His administration can also bear down on a second agreement with Europe — known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership — knowing that lawmakers will be able to vote for or against those agreements but will not be able to amend or filibuster them. 
   
   Photo 
   
   The Atlantic agreement is not expected to be completed until the next administration is in office, but the trade negotiating powers would stretch for six years — well into the next presidency. Together those two accords would put much of the globe under the same trade rules, not only lowering tariffs and other import barriers but also creating new standards for Internet access, intellectual property and investor protections. 
   
   “This is a very important day for our country,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, whose procedural maneuvering was largely responsible for the outcome. “America is back in the trade business.” 
   
   Most Democrats — along with labor unions, environmental groups and liberal activists — disagreed, saying that such trade agreements had resulted in lost manufacturing jobs and lower wages for American workers. 
   
   Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
   
   “It is a great day for the big money interests, not a great day for working families,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. 
   
   But 13 Democrats sided with Republicans to end the debate and get to a final vote on trade promotion authority. 
   
   Tuesday’s vote was the second time the Senate had blocked a filibuster of fast-track authority, but this time the bill was shorn of a separate measure to offer enhanced retraining and educational assistance to workers displaced by international trade accords. That measure also faces a crucial vote on Wednesday. 
   
   Passage of a stand-alone trade promotion bill will put pressure on House Democrats, who just over a week ago brought down the worker aid provision, known as trade adjustment assistance, when it was linked to the fast-track legislation, in a strategic move they hoped would defeat the entire trade package. 
   
   But Republican leaders — with support from the White House — found a parliamentary way to corner the Democratic opponents, by separating the two pieces of the bill. By Wednesday evening, legislation will most likely be on the president’s desk, giving him the power to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He can sign it whether or not the House passes worker dislocation assistance when it is scheduled to come to a vote late Thursday. 
   
   Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
   
   Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said House Democrats should get on board. 
   
   “The previous explanation that we heard from some Democrats who voted against trade adjustment assistance — something that Democrats have steadfastly supported for decades — is that they were doing that in an effort to slow down the advancement of trade promotion authority legislation,” he said. “That will no longer be a factor to consider.” 
   
   The tortuous path of the trade legislation over the last six months created the unusual alliance between Mr. Obama and Republican leaders, who otherwise have worked to thwart him on domestic and foreign policies. 
   
   “Occasionally, even the leader of the Democratic Party, the president of the United States, gets things right,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican. 
   
   In the end, Mr. McConnell all but secured the top remaining legislative priority of a president he once vowed to turn out after one term. 
   
   The Senate is set on Wednesday to give final approval to trade promotion authority, then vote to end debate on a separate bill that attaches worker dislocation assistance to a broadly popular bill extending a trade agreement with several African countries. 
   
   To attract more votes, Senate leaders added another provision speeding up action against foreign competitors who are found to be “dumping” — selling steel and other products in the United States at artificially low prices in an effort to put domestic manufacturers out of business. 
   
   Senators would vote on that package on Thursday, and if it is approved, as expected, it would go to the House the same day. 
   
   This time, if Democrats vote down trade adjustment assistance, they will be effectively killing a worker education and retraining program created during the Kennedy administration and that party members have nurtured ever since, but will still most likely watch Mr. Obama sign the fast-track bill into law. 
   
   “I don’t think any Democrats voted against T.A.A. last time because they opposed T.A.A.,” said Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House’s No. 2 Democrat. “I will concede there will be a different context” around the next vote. 
   
   At the same time, House and Senate negotiators will begin hashing out differences over a separate bill enhancing measures to police trade agreements. 
   
   Opponents had hoped that trade promotion authority without worker assistance would run into trouble in the Senate. And some Democrats tried to stoke fears that Congress could give the president the power to complete major trade deals without assistance to affected workers. 
   
   “How shameful is that?” said Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, who led the opposition to trade promotion authority. “We’re making this decision knowing people will lose their jobs because of our actions. Yet we are not going to pass this assistance.” 
   
   In the end, though, Democratic senators who had already voted once for trade promotion authority understood they were not going to escape the criticism, especially from the unions. They wanted to be done with it. 
   
   Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
   
   Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
   
   “Senate Democrats had already taken a lot of hits in getting to this point,” said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee and a co-author of the trade promotion bill. 
   
   Only one senator, Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, changed his vote from last month. In April, Mr. Cruz wrote an article with Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, extolling the trade promotion bill for giving Congress more power over future trade accords. 
   
   Under the trade promotion bill, such accords could not be considered by Congress for four months after completion, and for two of those months, the agreements would have to be made accessible to the public. The bill adds dozens of negotiating objectives requested by lawmakers, who still could vote down any deal struck. 
   
   Since then, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, one of Mr. Cruz’s rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, announced his opposition to the trade promotion bill, and some conservatives voiced opposition to any bill enhancing Mr. Obama’s authority. 
   
   On Tuesday, on the conservative website Breitbart.com, Mr. Cruz denounced the bill he once supported.
target: – 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.