WASHINGTON -- A measure to strengthen the hand of President Barack Obama's administration in global trade talks advanced toward Senate passage Thursday after a showdown vote that remained in doubt until the final moment.
The 62-38 vote, two more than the 60 needed, came from a phalanx of Republicans and more than a dozen Democrats. But the decisive thumbs up came from Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington after she and a few others seized the moment as leverage to demand a vote next month on legislation to renew the Export-Import Bank.
"It was a nice victory. We're going to continue and finish up the bill this week," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Obama's most important Senate ally on the trade bill, said after sealing the agreement that Cantwell, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and others had sought.
Senate rules would allow a vote on final passage to occur as late as Saturday, though Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the Republican leadership, predicted a vote today.
The Senate action to move toward a final vote was "a big step forward," Obama said at the White House, predicting that a trade deal would "open up access to markets that too often are closed."
The measure would allow Obama to make trade deals that Congress could either support or reject but not change. Previous presidents have had similar authority, and administration officials argue that Japan and other Pacific-region countries in a current round of 12-nation trade talks will be unwilling to present bottom-line offers if they know lawmakers can seek more concessions.
Supporters say such agreements benefit the American economy by lowering barriers overseas and expanding markets for U.S. services and goods.
But in rebuttal that became particularly pronounced two decades ago when President Bill Clinton sought and won a North American Free Trade Agreement, labor unions and Democratic allies in Congress argue that the deals cost jobs at home and send them to nations with lax environmental and safety standards and low wages.
Final Senate passage would clear the way for a fierce struggle in the House.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, supports the business-backed trade bill, and Republicans hold 245 seats in the House. But dozens of rank-and-file GOP lawmakers are opposed either on ideological grounds or because they say they do not want to enhance Obama's power at their own expense.
Democratic support is weak, given the opposition of organized labor. But Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the party's leader, has yet to announce her position and has said repeatedly she hopes to be able to facilitate the bill's passage.
In recent days, the bill's fate became entwined with the future of the Export-Import Bank, a federal agency that helps companies conduct business overseas. It is due to go out of existence June 30.
Cantwell said several projects are in line for bank approval by the end of July, and "no one wants to put these important opportunities that hardworking American businesses have secured ... at jeopardy."
Patriot Act on Agenda
The trade measure is one of three major bills pending in the Senate as lawmakers look toward a week-long Memorial Day recess set to begin at week's end.
Legislation to renew the USAPATRIOT Act is also on the calendar, as is a bill to renew authority for the government to commit federal funds for highway and bridge construction. Both face a June 1 deadline.
The House has passed White House-backed legislation that would make a significant change in the government's bulk collection of Americans' phone records. A Senate vote is expected once the trade bill has passed, but it is unclear if there are the 60 votes needed to send it to Obama for his signature.
On Thursday, the White House held threat briefings for key senators in its secure Situation Room as part of a lobbying effort to pass the bill preventing anti-terrorist spy programs from expiring June 1.
Senior administration officials met with a small group of bipartisan senators to discuss the need for the USA Freedom Act, a White House official said in an email.
Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, chairman of the intelligence committee and an opponent of the bill, portrayed the briefings as a sign that there aren't enough votes for passage. Burr and other senators were working on fallback plans should the bill fail.
The Senate may vote as soon as Saturday on the House-passed bill, which would prohibit the National Security Agency from collecting bulk records on Americans while extending three expiring provisions of the USAPATRIOT Act.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, said she supports the bill yet is working on a backup measure in case it doesn't pass.
The Justice Department warned senators it will have to begin shutting down the phone-records collection program today.
The House has also cleared a two-month extension of highway funding. Officials said it is likely to be accepted by the Senate and serve as prelude to a second round of work this summer on a longer-term bill.
Information for this article was contributed by David Espo, Charles Babington, Erica Werner, Alan Fram and Nancy Benac of The Associated Press and by Kathleen Hunter, Carter Dougherty, Erik Wasson, Kathleen Miller and Chris Strohm of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 05/22/2015