OVERNIGHT FINANCE: Senate strikes trade deal

TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: SETBACK FOR WARREN-WING ON TRADE. Alex Bolton: “Senate leaders have reached a deal to revive President Obama’s trade agenda, which stalled Tuesday after Democrats filibustered it. Under the agreement, senators will vote on two controversial bills favored by Democrats before moving to a wide-open debate on granting Obama fast-track authority to negotiate future trade deals. It comes a day after an embarrassing defeat for the White House that highlighted tensions between the president and liberal Democrats led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Republicans said Democrats shifted their stance after getting pummeled in the media.”

{mosads}– THUNE: PROGRESSIVES ‘OVERPLAYED THEIR HAND.’ Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune (S.D.) tells Bolton: “When you got these [headlines:] ‘President rebuked; Democrats defy president; President thwarted,’ I mean those were the headlines this morning. It’s a terrible place for them to be. I think they overplayed their hand here. They’ve come to that realization and so now they have to do their best to save face in this process.” http://bit.ly/1bQzliP

— OBAMA: THIS IS PERSONAL, via Jordan Fabian: “In a message to members of Organizing for Action (OFA), Obama said his trade push is ‘personal’ and urged them to back a sweeping new trade agreement among 12 Asia-Pacific nations. ‘I understand the skepticism about this, or any, trade deal,’ the president wrote in an email sent by OFA, the group that grew out of his 2012 campaign to back his policy agenda. ‘I’ve met folks across the country who still feel burned by agreements of the past. Those are the people I came to Washington to fight for. That’s what this is about for me. This is our chance to do better, to get it right.'” http://bit.ly/1EFJuWO

THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE, where our thoughts and prayers remain in Philadelphia tonight. There is no place on earth that has more grit and gratitude than the greater-Philly region. Washington could learn a thing or two from Philly. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-release.thehill.com; and subscribe: http://digital-release.thehill.com/signup/48 Back to work… 

AMTRAK FUNDING CUT, via Keith Laing: “Republicans in the House approved a funding cut for Amtrak on Wednesday over the objection of Democrats, who linked the proposed reduction to a deadly derailment near Philadelphia. The cut — part of a $55 billion funding bill for the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development — was approved by the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.” 

— MEANWHILE, the latest on the investigation, via Laing: “Investigators said in their preliminary investigation that the train, which was carrying 238 passengers, exceeded 100 mph on a curved part of the track that had a 50 mph limit. At least seven passengers were killed in the accident and more than 100 more were injured.” http://bit.ly/1A0UCSJ

— TUNE IN: I’ll be on Fox Business Network tonight at 8 p.m. with THE Neil Cavuto talking about business and politics. (So will Financial Services Roundtable president Tim Pawlenty, a former GOP presidential candidate.)

DAYS UNTIL EX-IM SHUTS DOWN: 46. My latest: Supporters of the Export-Import Bank are eying the Highway Trust Fund as a potential vehicle for extending the bank’s charter, which expires June 30. Sources in the business community and Congressional staffers in both parties said that supporters of the bank’s renewal are growing increasingly skeptical that a stand-alone reauthorization bill will make it to the House floor before the June 30 deadline.

— WHAT I’M HEARING: Senior House Dem aide: “The Senate thinks they need to put Ex-Im on a moving vehicle and the Highway bill has that capacity.” … Senior GOP House aide: “Between trade, cybersecurity and transportation, there are a number of vehicles they could use to push forward with Ex-Im — it’s just a matter of how they’re going to do it.” … Aide to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) said that the senator is “working to find the right path forward for the bill and that could mean trying to include it in a larger legislative package in the near future.” Story: http://bit.ly/1HekjP5

— MEANWHILE, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) scheduled a full-committee hearing on the bank: http://bit.ly/1KKULtn

FIRST NAME BASIS: IS CALLING WARREN BY HER FIRST NAME SEXIST? You already know: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) suggested last night that Obama’s critique on Warren was sexist because the president referred to her by her first name “Elizabeth” while criticizing the senator’s stance on trade. Last night, I caught up with Terry O’Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), who agreed with Brown.

— WHAT NOW CHIEF SAYS: “Yes, I think it is sexist. I think the president was trying to build up his own trustworthiness on this issue by convincing us that Senator Warren’s concerns are not to be taken seriously. But he did it in a sexist way… I think it was disrespectful.” Story: http://bit.ly/1JG541G

— THIS MORNING… White House press secretary Josh Earnest suggested that Brown would offer an apology, but then walked back those comments and said he didn’t “necessarily” expect a public apology from Brown.

— THIS AFTERNOON… Brown dodged the apology question on MSNBC. When asked point-blank by Andrea Mitchell if he had an apology. His response: “I don’t want this to be personal either way.” Ben Kamisar has the play-by-play: http://bit.ly/1G7vP03

— MEANWHILE… Danny Vinick in left-leaning New Republic: “Warren is a politician and is susceptible to outside pressure like anyone else. Liberals should remember that… The medical device industry is one of the most important industries in Massachusetts, and Warren has gone to bat for the industry multiple times. For instance, she is one of the few Democrats that supports the repeal of the medical device tax, which is part of Obamacare…

“She and her staff closely guard her image. For instance, she is notorious for not speaking to reporters in the U.S. Capitol, unlike most of her colleagues. It’s very rare that she strays off message. That doesn’t mean that her votes and policy positions aren’t principled most of the time. I have no reason to believe that she is opposing the trade deal for political reasons. I think she and the president simply disagree on the issue. But as liberals criticize the TPP as a sop to big business and the U.S. Trade Representative for its corporate ties–both of which may be true–it’s worth remembering that Warren herself is not immune to pressure.” http://bit.ly/1JIJAkI

WHITE HOUSE ‘WORRIED’ ABOUT SHELBY BILL, via me and Fabian: The White House signaled concern Wednesday over Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby’s proposal to overhaul financial regulations, with press secretary Josh Earnest saying the plan is something “we should be worried about.” “This is an example of Wall Street interests” trying to undermine effective regulations, Earnest told reporters, a day after the Alabama Republican detailed a 216-page discussion draft of legislation. http://bit.ly/1K72tkW

WARREN AND VITTER BACK AT IT, via David Harrison for WSJ: “A bipartisan Senate duo is taking aim at the Federal Reserve’s ability to make emergency loans to financial institutions. Sens. David Vitter (R., La.) and Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) introduced legislation Wednesday that would restrict the central bank’s ability to intervene in the event of a financial crisis without congressional approval.” http://on.wsj.com/1Heltdo

SLUGGISH SPRING? Kate Davidson for WSJ: “The hits to first-quarter economic growth just keep on coming, while weak economic data from April suggest the chances for a strong spring rebound are dimming. Data released Wednesday on business inventories came in lower than expected, leading economists to cut their estimates yet again.

“Last month, the Commerce Department reported gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, grew at a 0.2% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the first few months of the year. But that estimate was based on incomplete data. Since then, figures on trade and wholesale inventories missed expectations, suggesting the economy actually contracted in the first quarter. That spurred a round of revisions to economists’ growth estimates last week.” http://on.wsj.com/1QKumQq

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