How Obama's trade bill tore Senate Democrats apart

How Obama's trade bill tore Senate Democrats apart
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

For all the criticism House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has gotten for not being able to control his Republican caucus, it seems President Obama has a Democratic revolt of his own on his hands. Senate Democrats voted down the president's fast-track trade bill Tuesday, delivering a stinging blow to Obama's second-term trade agenda. The bill would have granted the president permission to expedite the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord by requiring only a simple majority vote to push it through Congress.

Worse than the simple setback of the no vote, however, is the behind-closed-doors commentary from Senate Democrats. While the bill originally seemed to be an easy win for the president, "mounting tensions" within the Democrats turned lawmakers against each other. Politico has the details:

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Kimberly Alters

Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.