A leading pro-trade Democrat said Friday that the White House was caught flat-footed by the 11th-hour strategy by anti-trade Democrats to oppose a trade adjustment assistance bill, in the hopes of killing legislation that would grant President Obama Trade Promotion Authority, also known as “Fast Track” or TPA.
The House recessed early Friday morning so Obama could make a last-minute pitch to his Democratic Caucus, which mostly opposes TPA. After Obama made his pitch, Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat who is whipping votes for TPA, said the president gave a good speech but that he was late in making it.
Obama didn’t “shift gear” quickly enough when several Republicans and Democrats opposed to TPA decided to oppose a separate trade adjustment assistance bill, which most Democrats heartily support, that is supposed to help persuade enough Democrats sitting on the fence to jump to TPA’s side.
Cuellar said the administration didn’t work congressional Democrats hard enough or early enough ahead of Friday’s expected vote on final passage.
“I wish there had been more outreach” both during the lead up to the vote, but also months earlier, when the president named TPA a top priority shortly after the midterm elections, Cuellar said.
The administration tacitly acknowledge that it wasn’t selling the legislation hard enough when Obama made an unscheduled, last-minute visit to the annual congressional baseball game at Nationals Park Thursday night to build goodwill, glad-hand and win votes.
Cuellar was one of just eight Democrats who voted to allow the trade package to advance on Thursday.
In the meeting, President Obama told Democrats to “play it straight” when it comes to their votes on a package of trade-related bills Friday morning, according to lawmakers who attended.
The said Obama urged his caucus to vote their conscience on each piece and to not fall prey to the nefarious efforts underway to manipulate them, Cuellar said.
Obama’s plea to “play it straight” came as the AFL-CIO put out a legislative alert urging members to vote down the trade adjustment assistance bill, even though labor unions—and most Democrats—usually support programs that train workers and otherwise help people who lost their jobs as a result of trade.
