The House's top Democrat said Thursday that President Barack Obama can count on only a small number of Democrats to back his ambitious trade agenda, and Republicans must supply the rest. But the top House Republican said Obama must procure more Democratic support.
Obama seeks "fast track" negotiating authority, which the Senate endorsed last month. Such authority would let Obama present Congress with proposed trade agreements that it could ratify or reject, but not change. If he obtains it, Obama hopes to advance the long-negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 other nations, including Japan and Vietnam.
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said only about 18 of the House's 188 Democrats have announced support for the president's trade priorities, and no one should assume there will be more. House Speaker John Boehner must produce at least 200 votes from this 245-member caucus, said Pelosi, who remains non-committal on the trade legislation.
"That's the Speaker's responsibility," she told reporters.
Moments later, Boehner told reporters he spoke with Obama on Wednesday, and "he's got some work to do, too."
Republican leaders have said they think roughly 190 House Republicans are backing the trade agenda thus far. That could leave the pro-trade forces about 10 votes short, although there's ample time for more lobbying.
Obama's aggressive lobbying campaign has met stiff resistance from fellow Democrats. With a House vote expected this month, these Democrats note that labour unions are running hard-hitting ads against those supporting the president's trade agenda. And many of their constituents, they say, harbour bitter memories of the 1995 North America Free Trade Agreement.
But other factors also are complicating Obama's bid to round up 25 to 30 House Democrats — from a total of 188 — considered necessary to pass a bill that narrowly survived the Senate.
Some House Democrats cite tepid support from local business leaders. Others say the administration seems unwilling to modify the Senate-passed bill in ways to give them enough political cover to support it.
Lawmakers who wholeheartedly support Obama on most issues are accepting his phone calls and invitations to the White House, and still saying "no" on trade.
"My district took a severe beating as a result of NAFTA," said Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus. "We lost thousands of jobs that were exported to other countries. And my constituents still remember that."
Butterfield said he spoke with Obama for 40 minutes in the Oval Office, mostly about trade, but he's leaning against the president's push for "fast track" negotiating authority. Butterfield said he doesn't believe a proposed Pacific-rim trade deal would increase U.S. jobs, adding, "I hope I'm wrong."
Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond is another Democrat who's had long talks with Obama but still leans against the fast-track request.
The president "made an aggressive pitch," Richmond said, and he emphasized the possible benefits of expanded trade to the New Orleans ports. But his district is plagued by poverty, Richmond said, and no one has shown how new trade deals with Japan, Vietnam and other countries will improve its plight.
Richmond said he was astonished that his district's pro-trade business leaders didn't contact him until a few days ago, months after he started receiving heavy phone traffic against fast track.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.