Compliance Management, Government Regulations

Harry Reid attempts to block trade vote until FISA is discussed

Although Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Utah, said on Monday that he and other Democrats would delay the vote on a fast-track trade bill until the Senate addressed the expiring Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Senate Republicans plan to forge ahead.

Reuters reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on Tuesday that as soon as work on the budget and Iran legislation was completed, he would attempt to bring up the trade bill. Those bills are planned to be completed by next week, and Congress will take a break at the end of May.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Wednesday that both Democrats and Republicans support both the trade bill and surveillance reforms.

"We're setting the bar awfully low if we think the Senate can only do one thing over the course of the next month," he said.

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