GOP Leadership Publicly Commits to Obama’s Asian Trade Deal

Late Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) sent a message to Republicans and Democrats opposed to President Barack Obama’s bold trade agenda: Your move.

Five days after Democrats turned on Obama by refusing to take steps that would give him the authority to fast track a trade deal with Asian nations, McConnell and Boehner vowed to send a series of bills to the president that would give him the authority to finish negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Boehner could introduce a stand-alone House bill as early as Thursday that gives the president the authority to expedite the negotiating process — but leaves out a program that provides assistance to workers who lose their jobs as a result of free trade.

“We are committed to ensuring both TPA and TAA get votes in the House and Senate and are sent to the president for signature. And it is our intent to have a conference on the customs bill and complete that in a timely manner so that the president can sign it into law,” the Republican leaders said in a statement late Wednesday afternoon.

Their move sends three clear messages. First, GOP leadership is all in on Obama’s signature trade pact with Asian nations. Obama has staked his economic legacy on it, but in recent days the deal has looked close to dead.

Second, it’s a show of force to Republicans opposed to the deal, a day after Boehner slammed members of his own party who derailed the fast-track legislative process last week. GOP lawmakers associated with the Tea Party, like Republican Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and David McKinley of West Virginia, have rallied vocal opposition to the Asian trade deal. Some conservative groups, labor unions, and environmental groups are also opposed to the deal, which would mark the largest in U.S. history and potentially cover 40 percent of the global economy.

Finally, it solidifies the partnership on trade issues between Republicans and the White House — a show of force to mutinous Democrats like Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California. She broke with Obama when she withdrew her support for fast-track authority last week.

It also publicly solidifies an odd marriage between the White House and top Republicans. The sides have sparred on issues from the Islamic State to Affordable Healthcare. Now, the commitment by Boehner and McConnell to Obama’s trade agenda makes for an unlikely alliance as the president tries to push the deals through before he leaves office.

On Tuesday, Boehner managed to buy six more weeks for the House to consider granting the president the authority needed to quickly move the bills. The Senate passed fast-track authority in May.

The Treasury Department says the TPP would increase exports to Asia by $123.5 billion. This projected benefit has pro-business groups like the Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs representing U.S. business interests, strongly supporting the deal.

It remains to be seen how Democrats and Republicans opposed to the bill respond to GOP leadership’s latest gambit, now that the two trade deals that were on life support just last week have received a reprieve.

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