WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The head of a House of Representatives panel responsible for trade said on Thursday he is “reasonably optimistic” about the outlook for legislation to streamline the passage of trade deals, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, through Congress.
Ways and means committee chairman Paul Ryan, a Republican, said support from Democrats would be needed, but he did not think lawmakers would allow a proposal put forward by a Democratic president to fail.
“I feel reasonably optimistic,” Ryan said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
No date has been set yet for a House vote.
