U.S.
Robert Galbraith / Reuters
The House of Representatives has stymied a proposal to grant the president fast-track authority for trade deals, despite a last-minute attempt by President Barack Obama to cajole Democratic representatives into supporting the legislation.
In an unusual move, hours before divided lawmakers were due to vote on legislation central to his hallmark Pacific Rim trade deal, Obama attended a closed-door meeting of House Democrats. Despite his urgings, most of the Democratic caucus declined to support his position.
Lawmakers slowed the fast-track bill by defeating trade adjustment assistance, an amendment intended to provide aid for U.S. workers who lose their jobs because of the trade pact. The Senate approved the measures as a linked package, meaning both had to be approved in order to take them straight to the president's desk.
The fast-track bill would give Obama authority to speed up legislative approval for trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade deal that will encompass 12 nations and 40 percent of the global economy if passed.
The House had been wrestling with for weeks with fast-track authority, which would let lawmakers set negotiating objectives for trade deals but would restrict Congress to a yes-or-no votes on the finished agreement. The Senate approved it earlier.
House Democrats gave Obama's short-notice appeal a cool reception, with some members of the caucus telling the Huffington Post they felt the White House was insulting their integrity and implying that a vote against fast-track would not be "playing it straight."
"He's ignored Congress and disrespected Congress for years," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., "and then comes to the caucus and lectures us for 40 minutes about his values and whether or not we're being honest by using legislative tactics to try and stop something which we believe is a horrible mistake for the United States of America, and questions our integrity. It wasn't the greatest strategy."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., revealed shortly before Friday's vote that she would oppose fast track.
"Slow down the fast-track to get a better deal for the America people," she said in a speech that drew handshakes and hugs from union-backed Democrats who have labored for months to reject Obama's request.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday's vote showed congressional support for fast track and "our work is not done yet." As for Democrats rejecting the retraining program, he said, the administration will contend "they have registered their objections to [fast track], and it didn't work." He said the administration will urge Democrats to "support a policy that they have strongly supported in the past."
Unions, environmental groups and other progressive organizations have been vocal opponents of fast track and the TPP, saying the trade deal undermines regulations that protect the climate and American workers. Critics of the trade deal have also criticized the secrecy surrounding how it was written. Of the TPP language that is publicly known, much of it was made available through unauthorized leaks.
This week WikiLeaks published a previously secret section of the TPP that could give pharmaceutical companies more control over how their drugs are priced.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has indicated that he intends to bring trade adjustment assistance up for another vote next week.
Al Jazeera and wire services
Labor leaders, environmental groups and lawmakers rally against fast-track authority for secretive trade pact
Unelected representatives iron out logistics of massive TPP and TTIP deals between US and Europe, Asia-Pacific regions
Before debate on the TPP, Obama wants Congress to limit its own power by approving trade promotion authority
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