Minority Leader Harry Reid is promising to give ol' Mitch "filibuster" McConnell a taste of his own medicine on the trade deal McConnell hopes to push through. Not so fast, says Reid, who first wants to see action on an infrastructure funding bill and reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Ryan Grim and Jennifer Bendery
have the details.
"We have two very complicated issues that I think should have strong consideration before we even deal with trade," Reid said in an interview with The Huffington Post, referencing the two measures that are set to expire unless the Senate takes action.
Reid said he has spoken with his leadership team and is confident Democratic senators will stick together to demand the two bills be dealt with before moving to approval for trade promotion authority or the Trans-Pacific Partnership. "I'm not willing to lay over and play dead on trade until we have some commitment from them on surface transportation," he said.
Reid said the same about the FISA surveillance policy, which McConnell hopes to extend for five years in its current form.
Reid is racing to beat the clock on both FISA and highway funding, which expire on June 1 and May 31, respectively. Meanwhile, McConnell needs the help of Democrats to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance the trade deal, which still divides them.
Though the trade deal has formed an unlikely alliance between President Obama and his usual Republican detractors, it still faces stiff opposition in the House. Speaker John Boehner has failed to amass enough GOP votes to give Obama "fast-track authority," which would commit Congress to taking an up or down vote on the deal the president negotiates without amending it.
“Another point you should keep in mind is that every Democrat leader in the House and Senate are opposed to giving the president what he’s asking them,” Boehner said. “The president needs to step up his game in terms of garnering more support amongst Democrats, especially here in the House.”
1:01 PM PT: UPDATE: Weigh in against fast-tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal by signing our petition today. http://campaigns.dailykos.com/...