McConnell wants fast-track authority done by Memorial Day

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to see a vote on fast-track authority by the Memorial Day recess. 

A senior GOP aide to the Kentucky Republican said in an email that the senator "welcomes the administration’s apparent change of heart and calls on the White House to send up draft trade promotion authority legislation and work with congressional leaders to schedule a vote on it before the Memorial Day recess." 

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday that President Obama would ask Congress at some point this year to restore the White House's authority to negotiate free-trade agreements and have them considered by lawmakers on an up-or-down vote with no amendments.

"We've got to have" trade promotion authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free-trade agreement between the United States and eight other nations, most of them within the Pacific rim.

McConnell pushed the issue last fall as Congress considered, and eventually passed, three free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. He offered an amendment to renew the authority, which failed. 

At the time, White House officials said they weren't prepared to move forward on the issue.

Fast-track authority expired in 2007. 

Kirk didn't provide a timeline as to when the administration would make the request but he suggested it may be sometime this summer, around the time trade officials have said they could complete negotiations on the TPP. 

Kirk said he would consult with lawmakers to ensure the bill's passage.