The Senate sent President Obama legislation granting fast-track trade-negotiation authority, a hard-fought victory intended to aid completion of an agreement with Pacific nations that is a top second-term priority.
The 60-38 vote June 24 follows passage last week by the House, ending a six-month legislative battle that saw the president working closely with Republicans to outmaneuver members of his own Democratic Party who opposed the bill.
“Of all the things that we’ve been able to work on on a bipartisan basis during the Obama years, this is probably the most significant accomplishment for the country,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, told reporters June 23.
The bill, H.R. 2146, known as trade-promotion authority, would let Obama submit agreements to Congress for an expedited, up-or-down vote without amendments. His administration hopes to complete a 12-country trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership this year, a major component in rebalancing U.S. foreign policy toward Asia.
With the completion of negotiating authority, the Senate is immediately turning to a bill, H.R. 1295, to extend a federal program to assist workers who lose their jobs because of trade agreements. The Senate plans final passage later June 24, and the House is likely to vote on it June 25.
Democrats have long supported the worker-aid program, and Republican leaders had combined it with the fast-track proposal to gain their support. After House Democrats staged a revolt and defeated the worker-assistance plan as a means to block fast track, Republican leaders split the proposals into separate bills.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who led the rebellion, reversed her position June 24 and said she would support the worker-assistance plan. Backing it will “open the door” to a full debate on a Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, she said in a letter to fellow House Democrats.
Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on trade issues in the Senate and a longtime critic of the worker-aid bill, had said June 23 that to gain passage of the measure, “I’ll vote for it myself if I have to.”
The rare alliance between the White House and Republicans on trade emerged after the 2014 election, when Republicans took control of the Senate and McConnell became majority leader. A national business lobbying campaign geared up when it became clear Obama was making trade a top priority.
Hatch complimented Obama for staying engaged to secure Democratic backing in the Senate.
“In this case, he really did work it hard,” Hatch said. “Without him, I’m not sure we would have gotten this result.”
Fellow Democrats bitterly fought Obama, arguing that the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement cost thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs. Organized labor formed the backbone of the opposition.
“It’s clear that our trade policy creates winners and losers,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who has led opposition to trade-negotiating authority. “Trade agreements do not create winners everywhere. People in my state are losing jobs from these trade agreements.”
