President Barack Obama suffered a humiliating defeat on his planned free trade deals as Democrats in the House of Representatives rebuffed a last-minute personal plea and voted against a key trade Bill.
House Democrats rejected legislation giving assistance to workers displaced by international trade. The Bill was a crucial step to securing fast-track presidential authority to agree a trade pact with 11 other Pacific Rim countries, a priority for Mr Obama’s second term.
He took the unusual step of visiting the Capitol to urge Democrats to support his free-trade agenda but his party rejected the overture, helping to defeat the crucial aid package by 302 votes to 126.
Without the support of Congress or his own party, Mr Obama's proposed series of trade deals, including a transatlantic pact with the European Union, faces an uncertain future.
Mr Obama enjoys rare support on the issue from Republicans on Capitol Hill who trumpet the economic benefits of intercontinental trade deals and warn that the US would lose out to Asia without them.
Most Democrats, fearing the loss of jobs overseas, oppose trade deals. The most vocal critic of Mr Obama's free trade agenda, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, has clashed with him on an issue that has mobilised the party's grassroots.
Testy debates
Fast-track authority passed the Republican-controlled
Senate
last month but only after a series of testy debates and dramatic votes.
Trade adjustment assistance, long supported by Democrats, was rejected by the party in the House yesterday as they joined forces with Republicans who believe the aid is a waste of public money.
Republicans later passed a trade promotion Bill, but without the assistance package it is unlikely to pass the Senate.
This jeopardises Mr Obama’s trade-deal proposals and confirms his lame-duck status in Congress for the final 18 months of his presidency.
The Democratic leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi, a key Obama ally, broke months of silence on the subject, joining most of her party in opposing the fast-track authority.
Slowing down fast-track
She refused to cede sole power to the president to be able to agree deals that he could put to a straight yes or no vote by Congress without consulting lawmakers on the terms.
“I will be voting to slow down fast-track,” Ms Pelosi said on the House floor shortly before the vote on trade adjustment assistance.
“Today we have an opportunity to slow down. Whatever the deal is with other countries, we want a better deal for American workers.”
Mr Obama made his unscheduled trip to Capitol Hill for the first time in almost two years to pitch a last-ditch plea to Democrats. It followed his attendance at the annual congressional baseball game on Thursday night where he tried to win Ms Pelosi’s support.
At the Capitol he urged fellow Democrats to support a financial package for workers displaced by international trade deals he was proposing in a first step towards fast-track authority.
“I don’t think you ever nail anything down around here,” he told reporters on leaving the Capitol. “It’s always moving.”
His words proved prophetic as his impassioned appeal at a private meeting of House Democrats fell on deaf ears.
Mr Obama, in a statement later, said “inaction” by Republicans and Democrats would “hurt about 100,000 workers and their communities annually if those members of Congress don’t reconsider”.
He urged the House to pass the Trade Adjustment Bill “without delay”.
Many Democrats, facing re-election next year, are reluctant to support a trade agenda opposed by so many of the party's constituents. Notably, Hillary Clinton has fudged her position on Trans-Pacific Partnership early in her campaign.
