~ Have Tar, Need Feathers ~

Politico is reporting that congressional leadership may not present the TPP deal for approval until after the 2016 election, during the lame duck session. Obviously this solidifies a particular reality all too common in Washington DC: If it is only politically safe to vote on the deal when no political election risk is evident, then you can be assured the deal is not in the best interest of the electorate.

Washington – Mike Sommers, chief of staff for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said at a Ripon Society meeting that Congress was unlikely to move on the massive trade package until a lame-duck session more than a year from now.

Hazen Marshall, policy director for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who was also at the session, agreed that a TPP vote was more likely to happen in a lame-duck session, and added that the White House was trying to work with congressional leaders on timing.

[…] “I don’t think this is going to come up until the lame duck, when you have a lame-duck president and a lame-duck speaker [Boehner] and all these other lame-duck members who can vote to support it,” said a senior House Democratic aide. Boehner has announced he wants to resign by Oct. 30, but turmoil inside the House Republican Conference has led to a delay in choosing a successor. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) withdrew from the speaker’s race last week, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) – the leading contender – has not said whether he will do the job.

[…] Under the trade promotion authority law enacted earlier this year, the White House is required to make the text of a trade deal public at least 60 calendar days before a deal is signed, but it’s required to notify Congress a full 90 calendar days before signing a deal. Congress must approve or reject the TPP within 90 legislative days once it is formally submitted for review, and it cannot be amended by lawmakers. (read more)

Tom donohue 5

Share