As the FBI rushes to finish an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is concentrating all his efforts on the “Gang of Three.”

McConnell’s focus right now is entirely on the triumvirate of GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Jeff Flake of Arizona. McConnell needs two out of the three to back Kavanaugh in order for the nomination to succeed, and he is walking a fine line in addressing their concerns while continuing to press toward a final Senate vote.

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McConnell has subtly tweaked his language on the Kavanaugh nomination. He’s no longer vowing to “plow right through” and confirm Kavanaugh, as he was just last week, crafting his message instead to appeal to the three Republicans who remain on the fence.

The Kentucky Republican is currently planning a move to end debate on the nomination by mid-week, forcing a critical procedural vote as early as Friday, which would set up a final vote on Kavanaugh by Sunday. But that timetable means the FBI investigation must be complete by Wednesday, and that’s where the situation become dicey for McConnell.

If the FBI doesn’t meet that Wednesday deadline, McConnell and Senate GOP leaders are likely to wait until the FBI report arrives before moving to end debate and starting the countdown clock on Kavanaugh, if only to avoid alienating the Collins-Murkowski-Flake group, according to GOP senators. That could delay the confirmation since Democrats are likely to use their procedural leverage to string out any Kavanaugh vote as long as they can.

Senate Republicans believe that if the FBI investigation shows no new information, it will quickly lead to Kavanaugh’s confirmation, according to two GOP officials. But they also acknowledge there’s some risk in handing off an investigation to the FBI, particularly if there are discrepancies between Kavanaugh’s testimony and witness interviews conducted by federal agents.

McConnell’s deputies were coy on whether the Kentucky Republican would move to end debate before the FBI probe is completed.

“People need to understand that we’ve done what’s asked,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas). “We’ve asked [Flake, Collins and Murkowski] what they need, and this is what they said, so my assumption is once they’re satisfied with the results of the supplemental investigation, they’ll be satisfied to go ahead and vote.”

In the meantime, McConnell’s public messaging is partisan, but steers away from heavy-handed rhetoric guaranteeing Kavanaugh’s confirmation. That’s because McConnell’s audience of undecided senators wants to hear deliberative and careful rhetoric down the home stretch. And if the FBI investigation proceeds in a comprehensive manner, top Republicans are convinced the votes will be there for Kavanaugh in the end, no matter what has gone on until then. They point out that Flake’s bias is toward confirming Kavanaugh, while Collins and Murkowski remain gettable.

“They were key in negotiating what that kind of process would look like, and as long as [the FBI] follows the contours of what they wanted to see done, then yeah,” said John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 GOP senator.

Some in the GOP think the extra investigation is unnecessary.

“It’s a ridiculous thing after all the things he’s been through. I think it’s overkill,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Yet McConnell knows he cannot force his three undecided senators into a vote before they’re ready. So he must keep the nomination on track in order to keep the pressure on them to decide at all. The key for McConnell is to judge precisely what that acceptable level of pressure is.

And President Donald Trump didn’t do McConnell any favors on Monday, when he told reporters that he was willing to allow the FBI to interview anyone it wanted to as part of the Kavanaugh probe. White House Counsel Don McGahn and Senate GOP leaders had sought to limit the questioning to Christine Blasey Ford, alleged witnesses at the high school party that Ford has cited and Deborah Ramirez, who had alleged sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh in college. Kavanaugh has strongly denied the claims by both women.

Trump has given his blessing for the FBI to interview Julie Swetnick, who accused Kavanaugh and high-school friend, Mark Judge, of being present during numerous gang rapes. Kavanaugh has dismissed Swetnick’s claim as “a joke” and “a farce.”

Collins’ office made clear on Monday, however, that the Maine Republican wants to see Swetnick’s claim investigated, even though McConnell’s office has circulated a press release raising questions about her credibility.

Annie Clark, the Maine Republican’s spokeswoman said Collins, Flake and Murkowski “advocated for the additional background investigation because she believed that it could help the senators evaluate the claims that have been brought to the Judiciary Committee,” according to the Portland Press Herald. “That would include the allegations that were brought by Julie Swetnick.”

Collins herself was noncommittal on Monday, telling reporters she was satisfied with the direction of the FBI investigation.

“Let me just say that based on an extensive conversation that I’ve had with the White House counsel, that I’m confident that the FBI is doing a thorough investigation and it will be helpful to us as we make our decision,” Collins said.

McConnell, though, had his own subtle message for Collins. During remarks on the floor discussing the Kavanaugh nomination — and promising a vote this week — McConnell went out of his way to praise Margaret Chase Smith, a former Maine Republican whom Collins greatly admires.

“Back during the McCarthy Era in 1950, character assassination and uncorroborated allegations were being utilized in a very different debate in that era,” McConnell said. “That’s when a distinguished Senator from Maine named Margaret Chase Smith — an icon from the great state of our colleague Senator Collins — took to the Senate floor to say enough was enough.”

As for Flake, he made a stop in New Hampshire, where he discussed the 2020 presidential race and a possible run for the White House.

Flake also said he didn’t want an investigation merely as “cover” to confirm Kavanaugh.

“We certainly want the FBI to do a real investigation and we are working to make sure that that happens,” Flake said. “I’ve had discussions, many yesterday with my colleagues, and with the White House Counsel’s office. My staff is following up as well.”

Trade

Deadline pressure, willingness to compromise and Trump’s constant threat of attacking Canada with auto tariffs all played a role in getting a deal done.

Everyone from President Donald Trump to Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland was smiling Monday as they announced a new NAFTA deal, but it took months of shouting sessions and mutual suspicion to get there.

The two sides clashed about issues as broad as auto-production rules and as tangential as world history.

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Negotiations were especially tense at one point last fall when one story after another popped up on Canadian news sites about unusual U.S. proposals. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer scolded his Canadian counterparts over media leaks. The Americans fumed as their proposals went from the negotiating table to the Internet and their counterparts whispered in the hallways.

“We could literally see them [leaking],” one American official later observed.

But all those differences were swept aside over the weekend. Sources close to the action say the eleventh-hour deal came together as a result of deadline pressure, willingness to compromise and Trump’s constant threat of hitting Canada’s extensive auto industry with tariffs if it didn’t agree to a new deal.

On Friday, Ottawa celebrated news it would be allowed to keep a coveted dispute-resolution chapter. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, played a key role to help ease differences over that issue involving Chapter 19. The Canadians then moved forward a proposal to open its dairy markets — which was enough for the U.S. to pull back on plans that were in motion to submit a deal that included just Mexico.

The trade pact announced late Sunday night still faces many hurdles, including congressional approval, before it can go into effect. But for all parties, the real victory was putting aside differences long enough to come up with a compromise.

The issue of looming U.S. tariffs on automobiles was the last detail to be nailed down. In a group chat Sunday evening involving Freeland, Lighthizer, and their officials, Canada was given what amounts to a de-facto exemption: no auto tariffs, ever, unless there’s an improbable surge in Canadian exports.

The deal was done.

The Canadians insist it wasn’t tariff pressure that led to a deal, as claimed by Trump. They said the U.S. was aware long ago of Canada‘s willingness to make concessions on its tightly controlled dairy market as well as its receptiveness to increasing the amount on online-shopping orders that could be imported duty-free.

What sealed the deal, according to the Canadians, were swift steps last week from the U.S. to get an agreement before its self-imposed Oct. 1 deadline.

The pivotal turning point came after the U.S. began verbally communicating its willingness to maintain Canada’s coveted Chapter 19 — the section of the old NAFTA that allows one country to challenge another’s tariffs over allegations of unfairly traded products. The formal offer came in a document delivered Friday, prompting a celebratory reaction in Ottawa.

That’s the day Canada put forward its proposal to open dairy markets. Separately, Kushner also played a crucial role in getting U.S. officials to back off demands to drop the Chapter 19 language in exchange for accepting Canadian dairy concessions.

Lighthizer, a longtime trade attorney who spent a career helping steel companies and other domestic firms secure tariffs for unfair trading practice, viewed the dispute mechanism as a direct attack on U.S. sovereignty.

“In essence, Kushner was the peacemaker from the White House because Lighthizer on his own had such passionate feelings on Chapter 19 that this wasn’t something he was going to happily give up,” said a source close to the talks.

For their part, the Canadians hated some of Lighthizer’s ideas on trade. And they had no qualms about letting the world know.

During a heated negotiation round in Washington in October 2017, one story after another popped up on Canadian news sites about unusual U.S. proposals: a requirement that every car contain at least half American parts to qualify for reduced tariffs. The effective gutting of all dispute-resolution systems. A clause potentially killing the deal after five years.

Ping, ping, ping. The proposals went straight from the negotiating table to the internet. Canadians reacted in disbelief, as much of pro-trade Washington did.

American officials at that round fumed about the hallway whispering. Lighthizer made clear to the Canadians his hatred of media leaks.

This is after Freeland gave Lighthizer some books as a present. She knew the battle-hardened trade negotiator had a soft spot for historical tomes.

So Freeland delivered three, as part of a so-called NAFTA negotiators’ book club she created. She gave Lighthizer books on human history, including Margaret MacMillan’s “The War That Ended Peace.”

The book’s central message: A prosperous, interconnected era of accelerated globalization came to a crashing halt in the early 20th century, spiraling into a vortex of protectionism and nationalism that culminated in the most murderous three decades in human history.

The point was not subtle.

Freeland herself admitted that she was making a connection to current events. “As with today, the beginning of the 20th century was marked by unprecedented globalization and growth,” Freeland, a former globe-trotting journalist and author, said last year. The events between the turn of the century and the outbreak of war in 1914 are a useful reminder [of] the fragility of the world order and the pitfalls of protectionism and retreat.”

The odd couple of NAFTA had their flareups again, in the spring, Lighthizer and Freeland again sparred, this time over the proposed five-year sunset clause.

He snapped at her again the next day, when details of that griping session found their way into the news. This time, Freeland was flummoxed. The Canadians insisted they had no idea where this leak originated.

In the end, they came to an amicable settlement. It included a separation period during the summer, as Lighthizer worked on a NAFTA deal with Mexico instead.

One senior White House official fumed to POLITICO recently that Freeland had gotten under everyone’s skin, sparing nobody: “And I mean nobody.”

By Monday, though, bygones were bygones.

“At different moments things looked closer. At different moments things looked further, at least from the media’s perspective,” Kushner said during a Monday press briefing. “But from the interaction we’ve had with our teams, I’d say the working relationship between Ambassador Lighthizer, myself and our counterparts in those countries has remained fully intact.”

Still, Ottawa was acutely aware of Trump’s threat to hit Canada’s massive auto industry with new tariffs.

At a rare and rambling solo press conference last Wednesday, the president re-upped his auto tariff threat. In a thinly veiled reference to Freeland, he expressed disdain for Canada’s negotiating team.

“He personally attacked Freeland,” said one source close to the Canadian government. “This raised some concerns and then there began to be some discussions between Mexico and people in the Canadian government.”

Trump’s attack helped set into motion the flurry of activity that eventually led to the deal on Sunday night, the source said.

The U.S. had set a deadline of midnight on Sunday to publish a deal so that departing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto could sign the deal before he left office.

“It became clear when we started to see that things we said were absolute necessities in us accepting a deal — that they began to move on them, we realized they really did want to get this done before the midnight deadline,” Trudeau said during a press conference on Monday.

Trudeau praised Freeland as having successfully completed the most complicated assignment of any Canadian cabinet minister in a generation. He even said nice things about Lighthizer.

“He is a tough, principled negotiator,” Trudeau said. “But he also understands and appreciates Canada. It’s fair to say that this would not have come together without him.”

Freeland called Lighthizer’s flexibility on autos earlier this year the true historic turning point in the negotiations.

“I said when we began that there would be moments of drama, and there have been,” Freeland said. “Through it all, Ambassador Lighthizer has been a professional, reliable and trustworthy counterpart. And I can say especially after the past few weeks of very intense negotiations, what we called our continuous negotiation, he’s someone I consider a friend.”