Final trade vote in House set for Friday

In a memo sent out late Wednesday night, House majority leader Kevin McCarthy set the Republicans' plan for trade votes on Thursday and Friday.

"As discussed at Conference this morning, the House is expected to consider three motions related to trade this week. Below is information on the process by which the House will proceed on these motions.

"Tomorrow, the House will begin with the trade preferences bill under a unanimous consent agreement that provides for an hour of debate and a motion to concur with a House amendment. As I mentioned at Conference, this amendment will include a bipartisan alternative offset to the sequester provision, as posted by the Rules Committee. Both Democrats and some Republicans, including the Doctor’s Caucus, wanted to fix the sequester provision. This change should alleviate any remaining substantive or procedural concerns from all parties on the sequester issue. By moving the trade preferences bill first, the House ensures the elimination of the sequester provision before proceeding on the remaining trade motions. Once passed, the trade preferences bill will go back to the Senate, where Majority Leader McConnell expects swift passage.

"After passage of the trade preferences bill tomorrow, the House will consider the Rule to bring up the TPA/TAA bill and the customs bill.  Instead of dividing the bill into two questions (TPA & TAA), the Rule will divide it into three questions (TPA/TAA/sequester). Since the House will have already spoken on the sequester provision, the Rule will consider as adopted the question of the sequester with no further vote since it has been rendered moot by the preferences bill. This will leave the House to vote only on the remaining issues under the Rule: TPA, TAA and customs.

"On Friday, the House will begin with debate on a motion to concur on the TPA/TAA bill. The House will then debate the motion to concur on the customs bill with a House amendment. As I mentioned at Conference, the House will then request to go to conference with the Senate on the customs bill.

"After debate on both motions on Friday, the vote order will be as follows:

"Question 1 - TAA. If this vote fails, no further action will be taken on the remaining trade motions. If this vote passes, the House will proceed to:

"Question 2 - TPA. If this vote fails, no further action will be taken on the remaining trade motion. If this vote passes, the House will proceed to:

"Motion to concur on the customs bill with a House amendment," the memo from McCarthy states.