The vote was 218-208. Backing the bill were 190 Republicans and 28 Democrats; 50 Republicans and 158 Democrats voted against it. Eight members did not vote.

Neither Wall Street nor their 24/7/365 lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, care about U.S. jobs.  Their collective stakes are based on business financial statements which can be improved if expenses are reduced and labor costs are outsourced.

Tom Donohue, CoC President, controls the congressional reelection purse strings.  Both John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are beholden to Tom Donohue; that’s why both are working earnestly to deliver something vital to the CoC and President Obama.

Well written article -> (Via Politico) […]  It’s the second time in two weeks that Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) chamber voted to approve the legislation. The legislation was halted last week by House Democrats, who voted against an aid package for workers in an attempt to scuttle the larger trade agenda. This time, Boehner and McConnell devised a complicated process that could deliver Obama his biggest legislative achievement in years.

The legislative maneuvering, on which Boehner and McConnell consulted with Obama during a conference call this week, could result in Obama approving the trade package before the July 4 recess — and eventually usher in a trade deal that would touch 40 percent of the global economy. The fast-track authority is essential, proponents say, because it would bar Congress from making any changes to the Trans-Pacific Partnership after a deal is reached between the U.S. and other negotiating countries. Lawmakers would get only an up-or-down vote on the pact.

Assuming Democrats are able to win the backing of at least 12 Senate Democrats necessary to overcome a filibuster, McConnell will begin the procedural process to amend another trade bill with Trade Adjustment Assistance, a program that funds job training for workers who lose their job due to trade agreements. That secondary bill, which includes language to strengthen trade ties with Africa and Haiti, will be subject to another vote in the House.

Separating the workers aid package from the trade promotion bill is a gamble because Senate Democrats have demanded that the two move simultaneously. But they ran into trouble last week when House Democrats concluded that if they blocked the aid package they have long supported, it would torpedo the entire trade agenda. Most Republicans have strongly opposed the so-called Trade Adjustment Assistance program for displaced workers, arguing it amounts to government waste.

But to win Senate Democratic support for moving the fast-track bill without the workers aid, McConnell and Boehner have promised to send an extension of the TAA program, which expires at the end of September, to Obama’s desk. Next week, the 14 Senate Democrats who voted for the initial trade bill last month — that included both the workers aid and fast-track authority — will now need to take a leap of faith that the Republican leaders will follow through on that promise.

It’s uncertain they will.  (read more)