President Obama made a rare visit to the U.S. Capitol today to lobby in favor of a bill that would give him the ability to fast-track a trade deal with Pacific-Rim nations.
The visit tells you just how important the bill is to the president's agenda and it also tells you just how contentious the issue is on Capitol Hill. Of course, the big concern from many critics is that the trade deal could send American jobs overseas.
The House is set to vote on whether pass a Trade Promotion Authority (TPP) bill, which the president has said will give him the ability to closeout a deal for a Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The issue is that both Republicans and Democrats are divided on their support and its still unclear whether Obama has the votes he needs in Congress. In fact, the unplanned visit to the Hill was intended to shake a few votes out of his own caucus.
According to the White House pool reporter, as Obama left the meeting with Democrats, he was asked if he had nailed down the support he needed.
"I don't think you ever nail something down around here," Obama said. "It's always moving."
The House is expected to begin voting at around 12:45 p.m. ET. NPR's Marilyn Geewax will be live-tweeting the action. We've embedded her tweets below:
Tweets by @geewaxnpr