Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds her weekly press conference as the House begins a series of votes on the Obama Administration’s request for fast-track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. A week earlier, Pelosi and a majority of Democrats were successful in blocking the trade bills, but Republicans pushed forward in their efforts to get legislation to President Obama’s desk. (The Hill)
TPP trade deal
06/12/2015
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) departs the Capitol following a series of votes on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Democrats voted en masse to derail a bill providing assistance to workers hurt by free trade in order to defeat legislation granting the Obama Administration fast-track authority to negotiate the TPP trade agreement. (The Hill)
06/12/2015
President Barack Obama departs from a closed-caucus meeting with House Democrats. The President pleaded with his party to support the legislation required to grant his administration fast-track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
05/21/2015
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) speaks with staffers after a close procedural vote on President Obama’s request for fast-track authority regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Heitkamp was one of several senators who withheld their vote as they furiously tried to work out a deal on the Senate floor with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. (The Hill)
05/21/2015
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) walks towards the Senate chamber for a vote to end debate on giving President Obama fast-track authority on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. It was still not clear if McConnell had secured the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture. (The Hill)
Reporters chase after McConnell after the end of the vote. The dramatic cloture vote remained stuck at 54-38 for several minutes as several mostly Democratic senators held up their votes while they tried to strike a deal with McConnell. (The Hill)
McConnell speaks with the media after he successfully pushed the trade authority legislation past the procedural vote. The Senate voted to end debate by 62-38. (The Hill)