[CTC] House GOP explores menu of tough options on trade

[Arthur Stamoulis]

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/kevin-mccarthy-house-gop-trade-vote-119009.html <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/kevin-mccarthy-house-gop-trade-vote-119009.html>
 
House GOP explores menu of tough options on trade
 
But there’s one big problem: Democrats are still opposed to anything that would advance the president’s free trade pact.

Politico
By Jake Sherman
June 15, 2015
 
House Republican leaders are actively exploring how to move a critical piece of President Barack Obama’s trade package, just days after the vast majority of Democrats voted it down. But they have a big problem: there’s still no sign Democrats have changed their minds.

Trade Adjustment Assistance, a job-training and aid program, failed Friday after 144 Democrats voted against it in protest of Obama’s trade push. Under the procedural rules written for the trade package, both TAA, as it is called, and Trade Promotion Authority must pass before it can be sent to the White House for Obama’s signature. TPA, which Obama needs to complete the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, narrowly passed the House Friday.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his leadership team have a few options to try to reverse Friday’s outcome, but none of them are foolproof. And one dynamic remains constant: dozens of Democrats oppose Obama’s plan to craft a new trade agreement with the Pacific Rim and will vote against almost any legislation that furthers that agenda.

Boehner could schedule another vote on TAA for Tuesday, but under the current legislative rules, he needs to make a decision by Monday afternoon. Even if he decides to go ahead with another vote, it’s unlikely to succeed. He would have to flip roughly 75 Democratic votes.

The speaker could also try to pass fast-track authority on its own, without TAA attached. But at least some of the 29 Democrats who voted for fast track might oppose the legislation if help for workers displaced by trade isn’t part of the package. Senior aides doubt the Senate can pass a fast-track bill without the job training piece.

Another alternative for Boehner would be to try and combine TPA and TAA into one bill, but GOP leadership sources say that would not pass the chamber.

A less plausible option would be to try to insert TAA into another must-pass bill. But Democrats seem ready to oppose any legislation that includes TAA.

The GOP leadership will meet this afternoon to discuss these options.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, speaking to reporters Monday morning, said “the best option right now” is for “the Democrats come to their senses” and back TAA.

He did not address whether the House will vote this week.

The White House, meanwhile, maintains that the inability to pass TAA was nothing more than a procedural snag that House Republican leadership needs to work out.

“There’s a bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives for trade adjustment assistance,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. “The reason it didn’t pass at the end of last week is because there are some procedural differences that have to be ironed out.”

The White House has made clear that Obama wants TAA to be a part of the broader trade package. However, administration officials have not explicitly ruled out signing a TPA bill on its own as they defer to congressional leaders for finding a path forward.

“The president is deeply concerned about the prospect of that program expiring,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday.

— Sarah Wheaton contributed to this report.
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