House Unlikely to Vote on TPA for a Few Weeks; But Ryan Says House within “Striking Distance”
The U.S. House of Representatives is unlikely to take up and vote on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) until the week after next, according to a Bloomberg report. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said this week that currently the trade bill remains short of votes; however, he hopes to get the bill on the floor in the next few weeks.
Despite the lack of votes, top Republicans yesterday expressed optimism that the U.S. House would take up and pass the bill in June, although the votes are still not there to get it over the finish line. “We had a very good week. We’re not quite there yet. We are picking up votes every day,” Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) told reporters this week. “Undecideds are falling in the right way, so we’re getting within striking distance,” he said.
Republicans are working with the Obama administration to advance TPA, also know as “fast track” authority, which would reinstate a process that allows the president to submit trade pacts to Congress that can only be approved or defeated, not amended. President Obama is seeking TPA, which expired in 2007, in order to finalize negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership between the United States and 11 Asia-Pacific nations.
This unusual political alliance between the Obama administration and congressional Republicans has occurred because the vast majority of House Democrats oppose TPA. At this point, just 17 House Democrats are on record in favor. The number of Democrats necessary to approve TPA has been under speculation this week. Rep. Ryan said to reporters that Republicans will need less than the initial 50 Democrats they forecast. “We won’t need that many, but we’re still going to need the president to deliver votes and more than they have right now,” Ryan said.
Ryan said he was slowly wining over the remaining Republicans that remain undecided. “Here’s what I’m telling our members: Free trade is fundamental to who we are as conservatives. This is about a stronger economy and a stronger national security. The world is watching, that is very clear. They want to know whether America can still lead or whether we are in retreat or decline, as some would say,” he said.
The U.S. Senate approved TPA last month 62-37, with support of 14 Democrats. House leaders are advancing an identical measure so that it can head directly to the president’s desk.
