[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]House set to break an impasse over the fast-track trade bill after GOP congressional leaders reach agreement[/title][fusion_text]Thursday, June 18th 2015
The House is set to break an impasse over the fast-track trade bill after GOP congressional leaders reached agreement to separately enact an extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance programs. The plan involves splitting a bill that included both the TAA extension and the fast-track Trade Promotion Authority that Obama needs to complete new trade agreements. The House will vote on TPA today and then leave TAA to be handled separately in other legislation. The trade bill bogged down Friday when the House voted, 126-302, to defeat the TAA section of a Senate-passed trade bill but approved the TPA part, 219-211. Authorization for TAA programs expires Sept. 30. Under a GOP plan approved by the House Rules Committee Wednesday, TPA is being folded into an unrelated public employment retirement bill (HR 2146) that had passed the House earlier on a near-unanimous vote. Inserting TPA into the bill will force Democrats who oppose the fast-track measure to vote against a measure that benefits firefighters, air traffic controllers and law enforcement officers by allowing them to make penalty-free withdrawals after age 50. TPA sets negotiating goals for trade agreements and sets up a process for considering the finished deals in Congress that ensure that lawmakers can’t amend them.
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