<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="http://thehill.com/policy/finance/332977-lighthizer-confirmed-as-chief-trade-negotiator" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">http://thehill.com/policy/finance/332977-lighthizer-confirmed-as-chief-trade-negotiator</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Lighthizer confirmed as chief trade negotiator<o:p class=""></o:p></h1><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span class="submitted-by">By Vicki Needham </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span class="submitted-by"><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span class="submitted-by"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">The Senate on Thursday seemed poised to easily confirm President Trump’s nominee for United States trade representative.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">After months of delays, Robert Lighthizer was sailing through the confirmation vote, which stood at 75-11.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">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.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">On April 25, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously advanced his nomination as part of a bipartisan agreement to consider coal miners’ benefits legislation</p><span style="color: rgb(43, 44, 48); font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">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.</span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">The waiver and the coal miners' benefits landed in the fiscal 2017 omnibus spending bill Congress passed last week. </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">Senate Finance Committee Chairman <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><a class="rollover-people-link" data-nid="188251" href="http://thehill.com/people/orrin-hatch" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; position: relative;">Orrin Hatch</a></span> (R-Utah) highlighted Lighthizer’s experience in trade policy.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">“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. </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">Hatch also said he had made clear to Lighthizer the importance of the trade rep consulting with Congress on trade promotion authority. </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">“The USTR is Congress’s first and most important point of contact when it comes to trade policy,” Hatch said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">But Republican Sens. <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><a class="rollover-people-link" data-nid="188278" href="http://thehill.com/people/john-mccain" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; position: relative;">John McCain</a></span> (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."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class="">Senate Minority Leader <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><a class="rollover-people-link" data-nid="188216" href="http://thehill.com/people/charles-schumer" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; position: relative;">Charles Schumer</a></span> (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.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Developing...</em></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(43, 44, 48); line-height: 1.4;" class=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">This story was last updated at 2:32 p.m.</em></p></span></div></body></html>