President Obama failed to turn many undecided Democrats into supporters of a trade package that got stuck in the House today.
Before votes were held on a trade adjustment assistance (TAA) bill, and separate language giving Obama trade promotion authority (TPA), there were somewhere in the neighborhood of three dozen undecided or undeclared Democrats, according to a list put together by the Hill.
Obama raced to the Capitol building just before the vote and encouraged Democrats to support the trade language, but based on the final vote tally, he didn’t convince many who were on the fence.
Of the 32 Democrats who hadn’t committed yet, only 14 of them voted for “yes” for either of the two bills.
Of that group, seven Democrats agreed to support the TAA bill, but still voted against giving Obama TPA. That result is striking because for several years now, TAA has been seen as a nod to Democrats that tends to make it easier for them to support TPA.
Only six Democrats decided to vote for both TAA and TPA.
But more than half of the group — 18 in total — vote against both bills, even after Obama had warned Democrats that a vote against the trade package was a vote against him. In the end, only 40 Democrats voted for TAA, and just 28 voted to give Obama TPA.
Below are the undecided Democrats who remained unconvinced by Obama’s argument, and voted against both bills:
• Alma Adams (N.C.)
• Joyce Beatty (Ohio)
• Julia Brownley (Calif.)
• Kathy Castor (Fla.)
• Joaquin Castro (Texas)
• Steve Cohen (Tenn.)
• Al Green (Texas)
• Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas)
• Robin Kelly (Ill.)
• Zoe Lofgren (Calif.)
• Doris Matsui (Calif.)
• Seth Moulton (Mass.)
• Nancy Pelosi (Calif.)
• Collin Peterson (Minn.)
• Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.)
• Marc Veasey (Texas)
• Maxine Waters (Calif.)
• Frederica Wilson (Fla.)
