Some critics of Trade Promotion Authority jumped the gun Friday by issuing statements declaring victory shortly after the bill appeared to go down in defeat.
However, a last-minute procedural move by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, gave the legislation, also known as “Fast Track,” a chance for a second vote next week, keeping it alive for now. Some critics didn’t seem to understand that initially.
Rick Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government, one of leading groups on the Right opposed to President Obama’s trade agenda, issued a statement just after 2 p.m. declaring, “Obamatrade is dead!”
About 15 minutes later, he issued a second statement, “Correction: Obamatrade not dead yet.” He added, “We remain confident that at the end of the day, fast-track trade authority will never be granted to this president.”
The confusion caused the failure of a House vote to add Trade Adjustment Assistance to Fast Track. TAA’s passage was widely seen as crucial to attracting enough Democratic support to pass TPA itself.
It was also necessary procedurally for the House bill to match the Senate version of Fast Track. Otherwise the president couldn’t sign it. So its defeat on a 162-302 vote briefly seemed to be the end Fast Track.
However, the House then narrowly approved Fast Track itself and Boehner’s procedural move will allow a second vote on Trade Adjustment Assistance next week. If Boehner can rally enough support on that vote, Fast Track could be signed by President Obama.
The situation threw Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, whose office issued an email with the subject line, “Rep. Kaptur heralds defeat of Fast Track legislation.”
The accompanying press release quoted Kaptur as saying that the vote was “a resounding defeat for dangerous and irresponsible Fast Track proposals, and opens the door for a new approach to U.S. trade.” Her office did not respond to a request for comment.
Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of Progressive Change Campaign Committee, similarly declared that the failure of Trade Adjustment Assistance to be “one of the biggest progressive victories of the year.” Taylor’s group also did not respond to a request for comment.
Others were more circumspect. The environmentalist group Sierra Club issued a statement declaring that Fast Track had been “stalled” but was careful not to say it had been defeated.
The AFL-CIO labor federation initially released a statement Friday afternoon praising House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for coming out against Fast Track, then about an hour later put out a statement that said, “The House of Representatives has done the right thing, but the fight isn’t over.”
Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch issued a statement headlined, “Defeat of Fast Track package highlights Americans’ concerns about more of the same trade policy — Senate-passed bill NOT adopted.”
Public Citizen spokeswoman Symone Sanders said the group stood by the press release, noting it included a reference to trade critics “intensify(ing) their efforts” this weekend. She also argued that the headline was technically accurate. “They didn’t pass the Senate bill today and they didn’t because of the groundswell of opposition against Fast Track,” she said.
