In the News

The war over impeachment has hastened House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s determination to approve a trade deal with Mexico and Canada, making it the one thing most likely to get done this year, lawmakers and their aides tell Axios. Democratic lawmakers need something to bring home to their constituents ahead of 2020 — especially those in vulnerable districts. And while Pelosi has said she is committed to passing several different proposals, the USMCA trade deal is the most realistic and urgent, Hill sources say. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), lawmakers in the USMCA working group and others are meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico on Tuesday to discuss the deal,  Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), a member of the working group, told Axios. "Sometimes a good crisis creates more opportunity," Gomez said of the impeachment inquiry. "And I do believe that we have an opportunity to move as quickly as possible to negotiate the changes that are needed to get to yes."