AFP, Washington :
In a setback for President Barack Obama, US Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked the advance of a measure giving him authority to swiftly finalize a massive Pacific Rim trade deal.
Republicans backed Obama’s bid for the trade authority, but many Democrats felt betrayed by the measure’s failure to include protections for American workers and punish currency manipulation.
The bill would have allowed Obama to submit the Trans-Pacific Partnership and an upcoming US-Europe trade pact to Congress for an up-or-down vote, with lawmakers prevented from making changes.
The White House says it needs such fast-track authority in order to finalize talks with the 11 other nations in the TPP, without the threat of Congress changing the pact once negotiations are over.
Democrats withdrew their support after Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to package the fast-track measure with three other trade bills, including one that cracks down on currency manipulation-seen by many as an impediment to fair trade.
“We know the global economy is a rough sea, and Republicans are asking us to pass a trade package that forces the American worker to navigate those waters in a leaky boat,” Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said.
All Democrats but one, Senator Tom Carper, voted against formally opening debate on the measure, a procedure that needed 60 votes in the 100-member chamber but failed 52-45.
“What the Democrats are doing today… is throwing their own president under the bus,” Senate Republican John Thune said.
Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, who co-authored the package of trade bills expressed astonishment at the collapse of what he described as an agreement to support both executive trade authority and trade adjustment to fund worker assistance programs.
“It’s amazing to me that they would do this to the president, on a bill of this magnitude,” Hatch fumed.
In a setback for President Barack Obama, US Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked the advance of a measure giving him authority to swiftly finalize a massive Pacific Rim trade deal.
Republicans backed Obama’s bid for the trade authority, but many Democrats felt betrayed by the measure’s failure to include protections for American workers and punish currency manipulation.
The bill would have allowed Obama to submit the Trans-Pacific Partnership and an upcoming US-Europe trade pact to Congress for an up-or-down vote, with lawmakers prevented from making changes.
The White House says it needs such fast-track authority in order to finalize talks with the 11 other nations in the TPP, without the threat of Congress changing the pact once negotiations are over.
Democrats withdrew their support after Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to package the fast-track measure with three other trade bills, including one that cracks down on currency manipulation-seen by many as an impediment to fair trade.
“We know the global economy is a rough sea, and Republicans are asking us to pass a trade package that forces the American worker to navigate those waters in a leaky boat,” Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said.
All Democrats but one, Senator Tom Carper, voted against formally opening debate on the measure, a procedure that needed 60 votes in the 100-member chamber but failed 52-45.
“What the Democrats are doing today… is throwing their own president under the bus,” Senate Republican John Thune said.
Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, who co-authored the package of trade bills expressed astonishment at the collapse of what he described as an agreement to support both executive trade authority and trade adjustment to fund worker assistance programs.
“It’s amazing to me that they would do this to the president, on a bill of this magnitude,” Hatch fumed.
