[CTC] Lighthizer confirmed as chief trade negotiator

[Arthur Stamoulis]

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/332977-lighthizer-confirmed-as-chief-trade-negotiator <http://thehill.com/policy/finance/332977-lighthizer-confirmed-as-chief-trade-negotiator>
Lighthizer confirmed as chief trade negotiator

By Vicki Needham 

The Senate on Thursday seemed poised to easily confirm President Trump’s nominee for United States trade representative.

After months of delays, Robert Lighthizer was sailing through the confirmation vote, which stood at 75-11.

The bulk of the Trump administration’s trade agenda has been in a holding pattern, leaving issues such as the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the direction of future global deals up in the air, while Lightizer waited for Senate approval.

On April 25, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously advanced his nomination as part of a bipartisan agreement to consider coal miners’ benefits legislation

Democrats on the panel also wanted a waiver for Lighthizer's nomination because he had worked for foreign governments on trade in the 1980s and 1990s.
The waiver and the coal miners' benefits landed in the fiscal 2017 omnibus spending bill Congress passed last week. 

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch <http://thehill.com/people/orrin-hatch> (R-Utah) highlighted Lighthizer’s experience in trade policy.

“Mr. Lighthizer’s years of experience in public service, including as staff director for the Senate Finance Committee, as deputy USTR during the Reagan administration, and in private practice make him extremely well qualified to serve as our nation’s trade representative,” Hatch said on the Senate floor. 

Hatch also said he had made clear to Lighthizer the importance of the trade rep consulting with Congress on trade promotion authority. 

“The USTR is Congress’s first and most important point of contact when it comes to trade policy,” Hatch said.

But Republican Sens. John McCain <http://thehill.com/people/john-mccain> (Ariz.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) had written a letter to Lighthizer saying they would oppose his nomination because “your confirmation process has failed to reassure us that you understand the North American Free Trade Agreement’s positive economic benefits to our respective States and the nation as a whole."

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer <http://thehill.com/people/charles-schumer> (D-N.Y.) said while he supported Lighthizer he couldn’t vote to confirm him because of all that has happened this week with the firing of former FBI Director James Comey.

Developing...

This story was last updated at 2:32 p.m.
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