Senate

Senate to vote on Trump’s Canada, Mexico trade deal Thursday

by Jordain Carney - 01/15/20 10:29 AM ET

The Senate will vote on President Trump’s trade deal with Mexico and Canada on Thursday.

“I’m hopeful that we can get it voted out of the Senate tomorrow and get it to the president’s desk,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said during a Senate floor speech on Wednesday.

Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), the No. 4 Republican senator, and a Democratic aide confirmed that the Senate will vote on the agreement, known as USMCA, on Thursday morning.

The vote will let the Senate sign off on the agreement before they descend into a weeks-long impeachment trial.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had hinted earlier that he expected the deal to be taken up before impeachment, though he didn’t specify when.

“Before the Senate shifts into the trial, we hope to complete an enormous accomplishment for this administration, and most importantly for American families,” McConnell said from the Senate floor.

The House voted on Wednesday to formally appoint the impeachment managers and transmit the articles to the Senate. But lawmakers will have a window to take up other legislation, with senators not expected to debate the trial rules resolution and start opening arguments until next week.

The House signed off on Trump’s trade deal in December after months of closed-door haggling between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Trump administration.

McConnell had initially indicated that the trade deal would have to wait until after the impeachment trial wraps next month.

But the standoff between McConnell and Pelosi delayed the articles, and therefore the start of the Senate trial, giving senators an opening to approve the trade deal before impeachment gets underway.

Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican senator, told reporters on Tuesday that Republicans were hoping to get the USMCA through the chamber this week, though he stressed it would depend on cooperation on the Senate floor.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters that she had also been told from GOP leadership that they would try to get the trade deal done this week.

“It sounds like it,” she said. “I think all the committees that have a piece of the jurisdiction are all disposing of it.”