White House, Republicans Lack Plan to Get Vote on Trade Bill
The Obama administration and Republican leaders don’t have a clear plan to resurrect the president’s trade agenda and are giving themselves until the end of July to find a way to overcome resistance from congressional Democrats.
House Republican leaders and President Obama’s spokesman insisted they will win passage of negotiating authority that Obama says he needs to wrap up a free-trade accord central to his strategy in Asia.
“We’re still looking for a path forward,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters June 16. “There’s not a specific one that we’ve endorsed at this stage.”
The House voted 236-189 to give lawmakers until July 30 to hold another vote on a worker-assistance measure whose rejection June 12 left the fast-track measure in limbo, even though it won a majority vote. Both provisions needed to be passed before the bill, H.R. 1314, could go to Obama for his signature.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters that “we’re committed to getting TPA as soon as possible,” referring to a measure that would give the president fast-track trade negotiating authority. “No decisions have been made” on a path forward, Boehner said.
The delay coincides with the end-of-July expiration of the highway trust fund authorization. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Pelosi wrote to Democratic colleagues that passage of a highway-funding bill would aid passage of a displaced workers’ measure.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (R-Md.) said June 16 there was no chance that passing a highway bill would gain 80 or so Democratic votes needed to pass the worker assistance bill, while a spokesman for Boehner said there is no connection between Pelosi’s message and the decision to delay another vote on the worker-aid bill.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) referred to the “malfunction in the House” and promised that the legislation would pass. “I hope we can achieve what we set out to achieve together,” he said.
McConnell said he and Boehner had spoken with Obama about how to move forward, while Earnest said the decision by House leaders to postpone until July 30 another vote on worker-assistance legislation was a “prudent” move.
The defeat of the assistance program in the House on June 12 amid a rebellion by Obama’s fellow Democrats has forced an unusual collaboration between the White House and congressional Republicans.
Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a Boehner ally, said lawmakers will keep trying to get the trade package approved.
