That vote, though, was meaningless because of House procedural rules that said a separate bill that included Trade Adjustment Assistance -- a program that helps workers who lose their jobs due to trade shifts, and that's typically favored by Democrats -- also had to pass, but it was defeated, 302-126. In fact, the most controversial element of the package -- trade promotion authority, which allows Obama to submit deals like the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership to Congress for a vote without amendments, which trade negotiators say is crucial to finalizing the deal -- actually narrowly passed. And despite a deal between Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that replaced cuts to Medicare as a way of paying for TAA, some liberals said the bill would still leave them exposed to charges that they voted to cut Medicare. “The prospects for passage of” the trade bill, she wrote in a letter to fellow Democrats, “will greatly increase with the passage of a robust highway bill.” 
 
 After TAA failed, the House approved fast-track legislation, known as Trade Promotion Authority, in a 219-211 vote. The next steps 
 
 Going into the weekend, it was unclear what exactly could change over the weekend to lead to a different result early next week, and which, if any, Democrats would vote differently if the TAA portion of the bill were to be reconsidered. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest termed the trade failure a "procedural snafu," adding that it still reflected a success that lawmakers were able to pass promotion authority. The TAA bill was intertwined with legislation to give Obama Trade Promotion Authority. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a pro-trade Democrat from Oregon, said Obama “hit it out of the park.” 
 
 “It was a powerful presentation,” Blumeuaer said. Rep. Peter DeFazio said he thought Obama “tried to guilt people and impugn their integrity.” 
 
 “There was a number of us who were insulted,” DeFazio (D-Ore.) said in an interview after the meeting with Obama. “It’s tortuous, it’s a gimmick, and we’re relying on people’s discretion.” 
 
 A major question heading into Friday’s tight votes is whether the TAA tactic is a last gasp effort by liberals desperate to put the brakes on fast-track or a growing movement by House Democrats unhappy enough with the process to vote against a program they almost exclusively favor. Republicans and Democrats were predicting ahead of the vote that TAA was headed for defeat — bringing fast track down with it — unless the dynamic dramatically shifted this morning. Washington (CNN) Sensing his free trade agenda was hours from a stunning defeat, President Barack Obama went to Capitol Hill on Friday morning to make a personal plea for his own party's support. Obama also made an appearance at the congressional baseball game on Thursday night, and top administration officials — including Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, and White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough — have been meeting with Democrats for the past several days. If the TAA bill is defeated, however, there won’t even be a vote on fast-track, and the whole package will collapse. But many Democrats came to view the jobs assistance bill as a way to sink the entire trade package. “We’re going to get it done.” 
 
 Still, some significant names announced they would oppose TAA, including Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee and a top Democrat on trade. Defeating the jobs aid bill, the Democratic leader said minutes before the vote, “is the only way we will be able to slow down fast track.”
– It's a sign of just how close the vote is and just how important it is to President Obama: He made a rare personal appearance on Capitol Hill today to schmooze Democrats in a bid to save an international trade deal—but it's not at all clear that he'll succeed, reports Politico. The weird formula to success: TAA plus TPA equals TPP. The first is something called Trade Adjustment Assistance, would provide job training and other help to people who lose their jobs because of the trade deal. The second is Trade Promotion Authority, which gives Obama fast-track authority to negotiate the deal with foreign leaders, and the third is the deal itself, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The first vote will be on TAA, and if it fails, the game is over—no vote on the TPA would even take place. Democrats would typically support a measure such as TAA, but they know that if they torpedo it, they can kill the larger deal, explains the Hill. "Certain people argued that this is the mechanism to kill TPA, and that that’s worth doing," says Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, who backs fast-track. "Other people pointed out that that’s a terribly cynical gamble." At this point, CNN rounds up 124 "hard nos" among the 188 Democrats, who say that the trade deal will result in too many jobs going overseas. That number means that Obama must flip some votes among Democrats or John Boehner must do the same among Republicans. As for how Obama tried to do that today, Politico notes he spent about 45 minutes making his case and took no questions. The number of votes needed to pass the bill: 217.