Sen. Brown Announces He Opposes Deputy USTR Nominee
Senate Finance Committee member Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, announced he will oppose the nomination of Nelson Cunningham, founder of McLarty Associates, as deputy U.S. trade representative. He pointed to Cunningham's advocacy for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and his firm's lobbying for a Chinese firm that makes glass in Moraine, Ohio, outside Dayton. That firm settled a case in 2018 with the National Labor Relations Board, which alleged it fired three workers who tried to get their colleagues to vote for United Autoworkers representation at the plant. The vote failed 2-1 in 2017.
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Brown said: "My values have always been clear: I will only support trade nominees who have rejected the failed policies of the past and have a demonstrated record of standing on the side of workers. We should not have anyone leading our trade policy who advocated for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would have been a terrible deal for Ohio workers. TPP was written by corporations behind closed doors, lacked enforceable labor and currency standards, and would have undermined the American auto supply chain."
Votes in the committee for the previous deputy USTR nominees have been strongly bipartisan, so if that trend continues, even if Brown and his ideological allies oppose Cunningham, it doesn't necessarily mean there won't be the votes to advance his nomination.