House Passes Fast-Track Trade Bill

“The House passed legislation to restore presidential power to ease trade pacts through Congress, as Republicans and pro-trade Democrats drove through a new fast-track bill a week after liberals brought down a similar measure in an uprising against their own president,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The 218-208 vote was the House’s second attempt to give President Barack Obama the power to submit trade deals to Congress for an up-or-down vote without amendments. But the course forward is uncertain. The fate of the fast-track legislation is intertwined with a related measure to help workers hurt by international trade. Many pro-trade Senate Democrats say they won’t vote for the fast-track bill without evidence the workers’ aid program will pass both chambers.