President Obama’s frantic push to build House Democratic support for his trade agenda is falling flat so far, as some Democrats seem more interested in working out a deal with Republicans on a highway bill, and less interested in trying to help their president secure his economic legacy.
Democrats scuttled Obama’s trade agenda on Friday, and before the day ended, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said a long-term highway funding bill would “greatly increase” the chances of Democrats supporting the trade bill.
That idea was quickly panned by Republicans, who seem highly unlikely to offer Democrats such a significant concession.
But on Monday night, after a few days of prodding by the White House, Democrats interviewed by the Washington Examiner indicated that the highway bill idea might be the only way out, even if it is a long shot.
“I’m in the same place where I was Friday,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., told the Washington Examiner Monday evening. Asked if he would reconsider if offered more highway funding, Cummings said only that he would have to take a look at what the offer entailed.
Rep. Hank Johnson, R-Ga., appeared very open to the idea of considering a “robust” highway-funding package in exchange for flipping his vote in favor of trade adjustment assistance.
“That’s what we need around here … some good old horse trading,” he told the Examiner. “That would be a positive step to start talking about trade in connection with the overall economy and our investment in our economy.”
“What Nancy Pelosi indicated is that Democrats are ready to deal but Republicans are not ready to deal with even themselves,” he said.
Rep. Mike Capuano, D-Mass., a nine-term veteran of the House, said if Republicans came up with “significant and robust” increases to highway bill funding, it would change the dynamic among Democrats. But he said he’s not counting on this.
“It would be something that could work — I want [a highway bill] desperately,” he said. “Would it be enough on trade? We’ll wait and see what we get, but robust means more money, and that means someone on the other side has to vote for increased revenue. The likelihood of that is not great so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”
Democratic opposition to legislation helping workers displaced by trade was what killed the entire trade package last week. It’s a vexing problem for Obama, since the trade adjustment assistance bill is something Democrats normally support, and its passage is needed to give Obama trade promotion authority.
An even bigger problem for Obama, however, is that some Democrats are openly criticizing his last-ditch attempt to win over Democrats, such as his appearance at a congressional baseball game Thursday night.
According to two Democrats, at least some of them were sympathizing with a less than flattering tweet sent by Roll Call’s Matt Fuller Friday about Obama showing up at the game. “Obama is the step dad who just decided he wanted a relationship with his kids, House Democrats, decided he’s show up to their baseball game,” Fuller tweeted.
Some Democrats even joked about not being invited to a Prince and Stevie Wonder concert Obama and the first lady held Saturday night for 500 guests, including Seattle Seahawks star quarterback Russell Wilson, or the golf outing Obama took with a few close friends Saturday.
House GOP leaders as of Monday night were focused on delaying a re-vote of the trade adjustment assistance bill past Tuesday to allow for more creative changes to attract more votes. But the pressure is on, as the White House said it fears that delaying a re-vote for too long might end up making it harder to find the votes.
