The White House on Tuesday welcomed a decision by House Republicans to delay a re-vote on a key trade package until the end of July, and said that move would give the White House more time to find support for the package among Democrats.
“Today’s move is a prudent one because primarily it would give members of the House and Senate additional time to consider the path forward, and in this case, we are pleased that Democrats and Republicans are going to be working together to try to find this path,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
Without the delay, House rules would have required a Tuesday re-vote on a measure to provide assistance to workers displaced by global trade dynamics, a bill that went down in flames Friday after the vast majority of Democrats voted against it.
Earnest admitted that despite White House efforts to turn the Democratic vote around, the package would have failed again if it had to be held today. “Without this proposal, we would be staring at another vote in the House of Representatives today and it’s not apparent that the House vote would be any different,” Earnest said.
Earnest declined to comment on whether House Democrats might flip their vote in favor of the trade adjustment assistance measure known as TAA if Republicans were to agree to offer the concession of greater funding in a highway construction bill.
The TAA is slated to expire in September, he said, and the president’s proposal is not merely to extend the program but to expand it. If House Democrats agree to pass it, “we can help 100,000 workers over the next six years as they deal with broader global trends,” Earnest said.
But Democrats don’t want to pass TAA because doing so would allow the entire package to move, including language giving Obama trade promotion authority, or TPA. On Tuesday, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters that Obama has now essentially abandoned the effort to lobby Democrats.
“I don’t want to get into conversations between the White House and the Hill at this point,” Earnest said about Hoyer’s remarks, adding that the administration strongly believes that the TAA legislation voted down last week “is absolutely worthy of Democrat support.”
Even though Earnest stressed that Obama continues to be committed to pressing Democrats to support the trade bills, the president has yet to call House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to talk with her about her surprising decision to announce her opposition to both trade bills before Friday’s vote.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough has talked to Pelosi, Earnest confirmed, but Obama himself has limited his direct phone calls to Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
“She articulated her position very clearly on the floor of the House on Friday,” Earnest said. “The president and other senior officials had an opportunity to visit with Leader Pelosi several times last week in the lead-up to the vote.”
The president will host members of Congress for the annual White House congressional picnic Wednesday night, but Earnest said he expects the evening will be more of a social event than an opportunity for button-holing members on trade.
“I expect that tomorrow will primarily be a social event,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for members of Congress to bring their family to enjoy a nice night at the White House. I don’t anticipate a lot of arm-twisting.”
