Washington Report

The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation with mostly Republican votes less than a week after a Democratic rebellion almost killed the proposal. The House voted last week for the TPA section of that bill, but voted against the Trade Adjustment Authority (TAA) section of the bill.

The TPA bill passed by a vote of 218-208 — a razor thin 10-vote margin.  The House vote yesterday returns the measure to the Senate, which also voted for it last month. The Senate will need to vote on the legislation again as the “new” legislation has been separated from TAA.

Twenty-eight House Democrats voted for the measure, and 50 Republicans voted against it. TPA allows the president to submit trade agreements to Congress for an up-or-down vote without amendments. It would give authority to President Obama and the next president for six years as part of a package that revamps U.S. trade policy into the next decade.

Gaining fast-track authority is one of the president’s top second-term priorities as he needs the trade negotiating authority to help his administration complete the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.

With fast track through the House, attention now turns to how its backers will make good on a pledge to ensure that a separate TAA program aiding displaced workers also is enacted. Passing both measures is a long-standing political agreement between backers of fast track, even though most Republicans oppose it. House Democrats, who have been supporters of worker assistance, voted against it last week because the vote was legislatively linked to fast track, something that is no longer the case.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) predicted that the Senate would pass both, with worker assistance attached to a bill promoting commerce with poorer countries, possibly next week. “I’m also confident that the Senate can consider both TPA again and trade adjustment assistance as part of the preferences package that hopefully will be back here as soon as next week, so we can move both of these to the president,” he said. Despite assurances by Republican leaders in both chambers that there will be action on both measures, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other House Democrats say they worry that the worker’s assistance program will not be renewed.

The TPA vote is scheduled to come up early next week in the Senate as a stand-alone bill.  Both chambers will then vote on the Trade Adjustment Assistance provision, which has been added to another package of trade bills. Both the House and Senate are aiming to have both measures passed and on the way to the president’s desk by the end of next week.