UPDATE – 2.40PM ET, JUNE 12

Despite last-minute lobbying by President Obama, Democrats in the House of Representatives dealt a blow to the White House by rejecting one legislative element of a contentious trade agenda. Reuters reports:

In a dramatic vote, Obama’s own Democrats, as well as Republicans, failed to produce enough support to approve a bill that would have given aid to workers who lose their jobs as a result of U.S. trade deals with other countries. The measure was soundly rejected in a 302-126 vote.

That was quickly followed by the House’s narrow approval of a separate measure to give Obama “fast-track” authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. But the legislation is stuck in the House because of the defeat Obama and House Speaker John Boehner suffered on the first vote.

House Republicans are reportedly planning a second vote on the defeated legislative measure on Tuesday.

 

MIDNIGHT, JUNE11 – Obama’s trade deal heads for House showdown

(CNN)

The House is set to vote on Friday on a key – and contentious – part of President Obama’s trade agenda.

The legislation has prompted unusual bipartisan partnerships on both sides of the issue, while the culmination of the process has prompted what the New York Observer calls “a lobbying frenzy.”

An ongoing backlash against the TPP – Trans-Pacific Partnership – agreement and its fast-track enabling legislation (TPA) among some congressional Democrats and labor unions has intensified, while  last-minute holdouts are apparently playing “lets make a deal,” The Hill reports.

Supporters of fast-track, which would allow Obama to send  the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership deal to Congress for an up-or-down vote, are sounding a confident tone.

But a huge number of lawmakers remain undecided or are unwilling to announce their position, suggesting many votes are in play. The Hill’s Whip List shows that nearly 150 members have yet to announce a position.

Some members may be genuinely undecided, while others may want to keep their heads down to avoid the ire of whichever side they are disappointing.

Rep John Conyers writes at The Nation writes why the TPP is “a terrible deal for all Americans” while Democracy Now looks at the implications of the deal for health care, in light of a leak by Wikileaks of part of the draft deal concerning the pharmaceutical industry.

(Democracy Now!)

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* POLITICS * Net neutrality rules go into effect on Friday, after an appeals court rejected a request by the telecoms industry for a stay in implementation. The Wall Street Journal reports:

The immediate impact of the rules may not amount to much, as the commission has pledged to use a light touch, while the cable and telecom industries broadly agree with the basic principles of not blocking or degrading Internet traffic selectively. But the shift could have longer term implications for the oversight of companies that are betting more heavily on Internet service for their future growth and profits.

Ahead of Hillary Clinton’s “lavish campaign kickoff” event in New York City at the weekend, former President Bill Clinton said it was likely he would stop giving paid speeches should his wife win the White House. The Clintons received an estimated $25m for speeches since the beginning of last year.

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* WORLD * The Telegraph has details of a former Prime Minister’s life after office.

After the G7 wrapped up across the border in Bavaria, this weekend is the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group. Guardian contributor Charlie Skelton apparently spent last night talking to Austrian police about criminality. Deutsche Welle reports that a demonstration against the meeting is planned for Saturday – a safe and quiet 15 kilometers away from the gathering.

The International Monetary Fund stopped negotiating with the Greek government over its debt situation, Reuters reports, as the EU “told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to stop gambling with his cash-strapped country’s future and take the crucial decisions needed to avert a devastating default.”

Former head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn will hear on Friday whether he will be found guilty on charges of “aggravated pimping.” The BBC reports that he “faces 10 years in prison if a judge in Lille holds that he procured prostitutes for sex parties in France, Belgium and the US.”

UPDATE: Dominique Strauss-Kahn was acquitted of “aggravated pimping” along with most of his 13 co-defendants.

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* MEDIA * Rupert Murdoch signaled that he would step down as CEO of 21st Century Fox and hand control to his sons.

CNN reports:

Minutes after Fox’s rival CNBC broke the news about the succession plan, Fox Business reported it, too, along with this new detail relayed by anchorman Stuart Varney: Ailes “will still report to Rupert Murdoch.” Varney repeated for emphasis: “Roger Ailes, the founder of Fox News, will still report to Rupert Murdoch.”

Change at the top also at Twitter, where CEO Dick Costolo will step down at the end of the month, with the company’s co-founder and Chairman Jack Dorsey taking over as interim head. Predictably, there’s plenty of speculation as to who should get the job permanently,

but at least there’s one candidate who hasn’t been backward about coming forward.

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* SPORTS * Fifa’s Director of Communications, Walter De Gregorio, resigned after a recent appearance on Swiss TV.

No joke for Jack Warner – he of citing The Onion fame –  who apparently thought John Oliver was criticizing Trinidad and Tobago in a recent spot on local TV.

Meanwhile, a judge ordered federal prosecutors to unseal the plea agreement between the government and former Fifa official Chuck Blazer. ESPN reports that the government has until Friday to apply to redact any portion of the document and until Monday to decide whether to appeal the ruling.

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* IN MEMORIAM * While it was a busy day in the world of the rich and powerful, one embodiment of evil and a classic villain sadly left us.

We also lost a jazz great.