Obama close to trade accord

WASHINGTON – Nearly two weeks after his ambitious trade agenda was nearly derailed by fellow Democrats, President Barack Obama is poised to clinch his biggest legislative victory of his second term with a Senate vote today to give him the authority he says he needs to complete a sweeping 12-nation Pacific Rim accord.

The prolonged battle strained relations between the president and his party. Many Democrats worry that the coming Trans-Pacific Partnership and similar trade deals will sacrifice U.S. jobs to cheaper overseas competition.

Arguing that the trade deal is vital to countering China’s rising economic power, Obama overcame vehement opposition from big trade unions and fellow Democrats by forging a rare alliance with longtime Republican adversaries, House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The political turnaround followed intense White House lobbying and a heavy dose of backroom dealmaking to secure the final votes needed.

“This has been a long and rather twisted path to where we are today, but it’s a very, very important accomplishment for the country,” McConnell said. “America is back in the trade business.”

The so-called fast-track bill cleared its final procedural hurdle Tuesday in the Senate by a 60-37 vote. There wasn’t a single vote to spare in overcoming a Democratic-led filibuster. Thirteen Democrats joined the GOP to advance the measure, and five Republicans bucked the Senate leader and voted no.

Final Senate passage is expected today, sending the measure to the president’s desk.

“Within reach is an opportunity to shape tomorrow’s global economy so that it reflects both our values and our interests,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. “Now it’s time for Congress to follow through.”

Fast track, also known as trade promotion authority, would allow the president to assure potential trade partners that the deals they negotiate with the U.S. will be presented to Congress for a yes-or-no vote without amendment.

Key to winning the support of the 13 Democrats were assurances from the White House and Republican leaders that the House and the Senate also would vote on a related bill to provide worker retraining funds for employees who lose their jobs as a result of trade.

That measure, a longtime Democratic priority that most Republicans oppose, is expected to have a vote in the Senate today and in the House on Thursday.

“It’s a pretty big victory for the administration, for Obama – a victory for pragmatism,” said David Bach, senior associate dean at the Yale School of Management, noting that the political cost to the president of splitting with his own party was worth the potential gains of U.S. leadership in the Pacific.

“The fact that Obama was able to work with Speaker Boehner and come up with a backup plan is not the kind of thing people would have perhaps expected in this climate of ultra-partisanship,” Bach said. “It keeps alive the potential legacy of his pivot to Asia.”