Trade Votes Pushed Back Following POTUS Visit to Capitol Hill
House Republican leadership aimed to begin the vote on Trade Promotion Authority and Trade Adjustment Assistance shortly after 11:00 a.m. on June 12, but an emergency Democratic caucus meeting pushed back the votes until closer to 1:00 p.m., said House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., in a release. President Barack Obama personally urged lawmakers to vote in favor of the legislation during that meeting, said a number of trade experts. International Trade Today went to publication before the June 12 votes began.
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The scrambling on the Capitol follows a successful House vote on the preferences package on June 11. That legislation includes language to strike the TPA Medicare cuts, a provision which has emerged as a significant obstacle in recent days. The House also narrowly passed, by a vote of 217-212, on June 11 the rules to guide floor debate for trade on the TPA/TAA package and Customs Reauthorization. Due to some vacancies in the chamber, only 217 votes are needed to pass any legislation. The rules, which were put forth by the Rules Committee the day before, won’t allow amendments on any of the three votes.
The rules vote marks important progress even though 34 Republicans voted against the measure. A number of Democrats cast votes in favor of the bill in the final moments of the vote. Rules votes typically see rank-and-file members fall behind leadership, but the 34 GOP defections may have even signaled positively for the underlying legislation, said National Foreign Trade Council President Bill Reinsch on June 12. “I thought it was a good sign that it wasn’t more; it’s not a very big number all things considered,” said Reinsch. “I think there will be a number of Democrats who voted against the rules but will vote for the legislation.” The Republican "no" votes came from a number of House conservatives, such as Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Matt Salmon, R-Ariz.
House Ways and Means ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., the chief Democratic trade legislator in the chamber urged a “no” vote on the rule in a statement. “Under the rule, if a majority does not vote for TAA, there will not be a vote on TPA,” he said. “This will give the House another opportunity to improve TPA and TAA, of which I am an author. TAA should not be a bargaining chip for a flawed TPA bill.”
The AFL-CIO continued its push against TPA and TAA into the final minutes before the June 12 votes, arguing TPA is a proxy for a harmful Trans-Pacific Partnership. “Deals like this are why voters are frustrated and think that Washington is broken,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a statement. “But we can do better than this. By defeating TPA Congress can send a message that our government belongs not to the highest corporate bidders but to the working people who make our country run.”
The nation’s largest network of unions also lashed into the TAA legislation the day before, following days of public concern among Democrats (see 1506110013). Despite the language to strike the Medicare cuts in the preference package, Democrats will still be on record voting against the legislation, said the AFL-CIO and a Democratic staffer.
The way the Rules Committee crafted the legislation gives Democrats an out, however, said trade lobbyist and lawyer David Spooner of Barnes & Thornburg. “By passing a rule that strips the Medicare pay-for out of the underlying TAA legislation, the House leadership allows Dems to vote on a TAA bill that officially doesn't have the Medicare provision anymore,” said Spooner.
The decision in front of Democrats boils down to the trade divide between the White House and unions, such as the AFl-CIO, said Brian Diffell, a trade lobbyist with Washington Tax & Public Policy Group. “The entire issue comes down to how many Democrats ultimately will vote for TAA,” said Diffell. “The real issue comes down to whether Democrats are going to do this for the president. It’s either they’re going to vote for the president, or vote out of fear of labor.”