Ted Cruz switch spotlights GOP split on trade

The Republican presidential contenders have sparred on free trade, an issue had usually united the GOP, with mainstream candidates supporting Trade Promotion Authority and populist 2016’ers denouncing it. Cruz was the exception. The Texan, a Tea Party favorite, was an ardent backer of TPA, writing a supportive Wall Street Journal op-ed with House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and voting for it on the Senate floor.

Then, as the chamber was preparing to vote to advance the legislation a second time, Cruz reversed himself, choosing Breitbart, the preferred media outlet of the GOP’s populist wing, to broadcast his change of heart. Of the Republican senators running for president, Cruz was the only flip. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky were consistent (Graham and Rubio voted in favor, Paul against.)

“There are changed circumstances, and so in changed circumstances people make different assessments,” Cruz told the Washington Examiner during a brief interview following the vote. “It was an issue that I gave a great deal of consideration.”

In his Breitbart op-ed, Cruz cited new revelations about how granting Obama enhanced trade negotiating powers could open a back door to more executive action on immigration. The senator also complained about heavy-handed tactics by GOP leaders in the House to enforce party unity in the midst of opposition to TPA by a small but vocal band of conservatives, and partly credited the intra-GOP spat in that chamber for his reassessment.

Republican proponents of “Fast Track” dismissed these claims as manufactured falsehoods. They countered that, as a matter of policy, there have been no changes to the TPA package that senators voted on the first time, other than to separate out Trade Adjustment Assistance. That measure, to provide government aide to workers displaced by trade agreements, is generally opposed by Republicans. It was only included at the behest of Obama and congressional Democrats.

“What we’re looking at is essentially, basically, what we had over here before,” said John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 ranking Senate Republican. “The outcome shouldn’t have been any different.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, an immigration hawk and leading anti-TPA Republican, conceded that the package isn’t really any different. He attributed the movement of some Republicans over to his side to their being further educated about the details of the package since the Senate first voted in May.

“I do think people learned more. There were things in this legislation people did not fully comprehend,” Sessions said.

Trade Promotion Authority, derided as “Obamatrade” by its populist critics on the right, garnered 60 votes in the Senate on Tuesday, enough to overcome a filibuster lodged by Democratic and Republican opponents of the bill. It now appears on track to clear the House in a vote later this week and head to Obama’s desk.

The deep and crowded field of Republican presidential contenders is generally in broad agreement on economic and national security issues, with minor differences around the edges. Even on an issue like immigration reform, there tends to be a consensus that the border security comes first, and then a debate about how to address the 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S.

The issue of free trade has emerged as among the few where there are stark differences.

There are the free traders that support TPA with an eye toward completing the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal between the U.S. and a collection of Asian allies. They view the deal as a good for the country economically and important to national security as a way to counter China’s influence in the Pacific. Among them are Graham; Rubio; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

“It would strengthen our ties to our allies throughout the Pacific region,” Bush said in a post on Medium in April. “More than that, free trade is essential to creating the sustained, high rate of growth that we need to create well-paying jobs, new opportunities for American farmers and businesses, and even greater access to a global supply of goods and services.”

Then there are the opponents or those on the fence.

Some of them cite opposition to TPA, others worry that passage of the TPP will become impossible to block, should they oppose the final draft of the deal Obama negotiates, even though ratification requires an up-or-down vote of Congress. Still others object to TPA because it covers U.S. negotiations with other countries involving a Trade In Services Agreement. It is through TiSA that they claim Obama could sidestep Congress on immigration. Supporters of TPA say this claim is laughable.

These Republicans by and large claim the “Free Trade” mantle but contend that most deals the U.S. has entered into in the past has been unfair to American workers. Others reference the emerging agreement with Iran to limit Tehran’s nuclear weapons program and say Obama can’t be trusted to negotiate a good trade deal — or that he will use TPA to sidestep Congress and implement another “executive amnesty.” So, they say, TPA should hold for the hoped-for election of a Republican president in 2016.

Among this group are Paul, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, businessman and reality television star Donald Trump, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who also previously supported TPA and TPP, and now Cruz.

“With so many unanswered questions, it’s irresponsible for Congress to blindly hand-over the keys on trade to this Administration. From Delaware to Des Moines, California to the Carolinas, a huge majority of Americans are speaking out against this bill and Washington better be listening,” Huckabee said, in a statement issued before Tuesday’s Senate vote.

Disclosure: The author’s wife works as an adviser to Scott Walker.