Senate Poised to Vote on TPA Standalone, Preference/TAA Bill in Coming Days

McConnell emphasized in remarks on the Senate floor the need to ensure both TPA and TAA reach President Barack Obama’s desk for his signature. “In the judgment of members of both parties in the House and the Senate, our best way forward now is to consider TPA and TAA separately,” he said. “That means TAA will come second after TPA, but the votes will be there to pass it -- reluctantly, not happily, but they will be there if it means getting something far more important accomplished for the American people.” The legislative strategy McConnell formally unveiled on June 18 was largely expected (see 1506170022).

McConnell said he aims to deliver both TPA and the preferences package, with TAA tacked on, to Obama in order for him to sign the bills into law before July 4. “This puts the Senate on a procedural glide-path to consider and then pass the TPA bill, the AGOA and Preferences bill, and TAA,” he said. “And so, assuming everyone has a little faith and votes the same way they just did a few weeks ago, we’ll be able to get all of these bills to the President soon.” The votes on the bills could come within hours or days of cloture approvals.

Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, one of the chief architects of the trade bills, endorsed that legislative strategy in an interview on June 18. “Everybody knows we can’t have TPA without TAA. So we’ve got to get it passed. We’ve got to do everything we can to get Democrats to stand up and pass it,” said Hatch. “We have to have something that gives the Democrats some incentive to go with us. They all know we have to do this.”

But many House Democrats hit back against that strategy before the standalone TPA vote. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., one of the biggest champions of African Growth and Opportunity Act renewal in Congress, said Republican leadership is angling to take advantage of the non-controversial nature of the preferences package to advance the rest of the legislative trade agenda. Minor differences exist between the House and Senate preference bills (see 1506120015), but both include renewals for AGOA, the Generalized System of Preferences and two Haiti tariff preference level programs.

The House voted last week against TAA, a program traditionally championed by Democrats, in a vote that also derailed TPA (see 1506150034). Despite continued resistance from Democrats, McConnell’s strategy now removes the concrete, legislative link between TPA and TAA, said National Foreign Trade Council President Bill Reinsch in a June 19 interview. “The point is killing TAA will no longer block TPA; they’re disconnected now,” said Reinsch. “If [Democrats] vote it down, it would make a huge difference for worker benefits.” The return of TPA to the Senate will likely make that legislation amendable, but McConnell may maneuver to prevent amendments, said Reinsch. Trade opponents are still likely to showcase “chest-beating” to the American public, but Democrats in the House may be warming to the strategy, he said. A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, didn’t respond for comment.

The White House reiterated its commitment to making both bills law on June 18. “The only strategy that we support moving through Congress is one that includes both of those pieces getting to his desk for his signature,” said White House spokesman Eric Schultz in a press briefing. “The President had good, constructive conversations last night in his session with House Democrats and with Senate Democrats. He was clear that the only way that this garners his support is if both of those pieces move to his desk.” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, a fierce critic of TPA, said he is unsure Obama will refuse to sign TPA without TAA. "We have an absolute obligation to do TAA first at this point," he said in an interview on June 18.