Senate

Friday: Crunch time in the Senate

by Jordain Carney - 05/22/15 9:22 AM ET

The Senate is still trying to find a way forward on “fast-track” trade legislation, after taking an important step Thursday.

Senators were supposed to be heading out of town for a week-long Memorial Day recess, but as of Friday morning they still need to finish work on trade promotion authority (TPA), expiring provisions of the Patriot Act and highway legislation.

{mosads}Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have been working for days to try reach a deal that would allow for more amendment votes on the trade legislation, but their offers have twice been blocked on the Senate floor.

The Senate could take votes on a handful of amendments that are currently pending to the trade legislation Friday, as well as take another procedural vote, if they can’t reach a broader deal.

Meanwhile, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sought to pressure senators late Thursday to accept a deal on the three bills.

“There’s a path forward if people want to take it that could complete all of this work at a reasonable time, probably sometime tomorrow,” he said. “Or, we can make it difficult, but the end won’t change.”

But it’s unclear if Democrats, some of whom have pledged to drag out the trade fight, would accept McConnell’s offer.

Meanwhile, senators still haven’t reached an agreement on how to deal with provisions of the Patriot Act before they expire on June 1.

Supports of the USA Freedom Act appeared hopeful late Thursday that the Senate would either have to back the House-passed reform bill or allow three parts of the post-Sept. 11 law to sunset.

Under the bill, the agency would have to ask companies for a narrow set of phone records tied to a particular case. The NSA would no longer hold the phone records in a government database.

But McConnell wants to pass a “clean” short-term extension of the NSA’s powers. It’s still unclear if either bill could get the votes needed to pass.

The Senate also needs to pass a two-month extension of the Highway Trust Fund.

Tags Mitch McConnell Orrin Hatch Ron Wyden