Obama’s trade pitch falling flat with Dems

An aggressive effort by the administration to win support for President Obama’s trade agenda appears to be stuck.

As few as 15 House Democrats might vote to give the president fast-track authority, according to dozens of Democratic lawmakers, business group representatives and activists on both sides of the trade fight interviewed by The Hill.

That’s far fewer than the 50 Democrats Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other Republicans have asked the White House to deliver.

And with as many as 60 House Republicans ready to vote against giving Obama fast-track or trade promotion authority, it’s possible a vote would fail on the floor.

That would be a stinging defeat for Obama, who views trade as a key part of his second-term agenda. Without fast-track, which would make it easier for the White House to negotiate trade deals by preventing Congress from amending them, it could be almost impossible to finish negotiations with 11 Latin American and Asian countries on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — the largest trade deal the United States has negotiated in more than a decade.

more

http://thehill.com/policy/international/238702-obamas-trade-pitch-falling-flat-with-dems