Philip Brasher

The Senate agreed to give President Obama fast-track negotiating authority to wrap up a 12-nation Pacific Rim agreement and complete a second deal with the European Union.

The fast-track trade bill cleared another hurdle as the Senate voted to move ahead on the legislation, 62-38, after a deal was reached to vote separately on the Export-Import Bank.

Critics of biotech foods say that killing a House bill to preempt state GMO labeling laws would force the food industry to negotiate with labeling proponents. pWe must stop this pDARK Act.p This will bring the companies to the table,p said Gary Hirshberg

The administration is expected to release the final pwaters of the United Statesp (WOTUS) rule in the next week or so. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has been promising to refine the definitions in the proposed rule to address concerns raised by critics.

Senate Republican leaders have been working to get the fast-track trade bill to the finish line this week, ahead of the Memorial Day recess. But the debate was dragging amid negotiations over how many amendments would be considered.

Administration officials could learn in the next few days whether Brazil could challenge the legality of commodity programs created by the 2014 farm bill.

The House voted to remove the lesser prairie chicken from the list of threatened species to give time for a regional conservation plan to restore the birdPs Plains habitat. An amendment that the House adopted on a near party-line vote, 229-190, to the defense authorization

Senate Republican leaders have been working to get the fast-track trade bill to the finish line this week

Farm groups and agribusiness companies are urging the Senate to reject a proposed amendment to the fast-track trade bill aimed at stopping countries from manipulating their currency. A letter sent to senators said the amendment proposed by Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Debb

The Food and Drug Administration s requirement that restaurants start posting calorie counts later this year is raising concerns across the political spectrum. Some 32 senators, including the chairman and ranking Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee&&