McConnell Maneuvers for Final TPA Vote, but Democrats Cry Foul Over Amendments
The Senate is expected to resume consideration of Trade Promotion Authority and Trade Adjustment Assistance on May 20, hours after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took procedural steps to schedule a series of trade votes on May 21. The Senate is poised to vote on two different cloture measures on May 21, one on the substitute amendment for trade legislation and the other for underlying TPA and TAA bills, Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters on May 20. The cloture votes, both of which need 60 votes in favor to pass, will then pave the way for a vote to pass the trade legislation before the Senate breaks for Memorial Day recess.
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Senate lawmakers filed nearly 200 amendments to the legislation on May 21, and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the deadline for all primary amendments is 1 p.m. on May 21. There are eight amendments that are likely to get votes if cloture is invoked, said a McConnell spokeswoman. A controversial currency amendment, spearheaded by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is one of those, said the spokeswoman. The first cloture vote will take place an hour after the Senate convenes on May 21, Democratic leadership said, indicating there won’t be time that day for amendment votes prior to the cloture votes. No amendment votes have so far been scheduled for May 20. McConnell, speaking on the Senate floor early on May 20, said Democrats are obstructing efforts to allow votes to take place.
Reid and other Democrats complained of McConnell’s move to cut off debate on trade, arguing there's insufficient time in the coming days to address all Democratic amendment priorities. On May 19, Reid declined to comment on whether he’ll try to block the cloture votes. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a chief supporter and architect of the trade legislation, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
McConnell is reneging on his commitment to an open amendment process, said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in a May 19 interview. Brown said Democrats are angling to put trade enforcement measures, in particular his Leveling the Playing Field Act, in TPA over concerns about the future of Customs Reauthorization. “We want to cover all bases,” said Brown. “A lot of people have said customs won’t become law. I don’t trust Speaker Boehner’s House of Representatives to do the right thing here so I think we cover both bases by doing it each way.” Enforcement is not among the eight amendments confirmed by McConnell's office.
The Senate-approved Leveling the Playing Field Act, as well as the ENFORCE Act, in Customs Reauthorization legislation on May 14 (see 1505140029). The House hasn’t yet voted on its customs bill, but House and Senate trade leaders recently vowed to pass the House legislation and then reconcile differences among the two chambers in order to send President Barack Obama a compromise bill by the end of June (see 1505190011). Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., are continuing to pressure Senate leadership to allow a vote on their currency amendment. Stabenow recently said on May 19 the amendment would crack down on currency manipulation (here).
The White House, however, threatened to veto TPA legislation if that amendment is approved. “There’s at least one provision that has been floated by Senator Portman that would undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve and interfere with the ability of the Federal Reserve to implement monetary policy in a way that would have -- in a way that’s critical to the stability of the U.S. economy,” said White House Spokesman Josh Earnest in a May 19 briefing. "And the president would certainly not support that kind of provision, and would even take the extraordinary step of vetoing the TPA bill if this amendment were added.” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, echoed those concerns on the Senate floor on May 20. The amendment may derail the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said Hatch.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., a member of Senate Republican leadership, told reporters on May 19 he expects the Senate will strike out a TPA provision through the amendment process that would prevent U.S. negotiators from using TPA to lock down TPP with Malaysia due to that country’s level of human trafficking activity. That provision was merged into TPA bill during the Finance Committee markup in late April (see 1504270008). Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., led the effort to vote on that provision.