The US House defeated the secret Obamatrade bill Friday 302 to 126 in stunning rebuke to President Obama.
The Washington Post reported:
House Democrats delivered a stinging defeat to President Obama’s trade agenda when a vast majority voted to derail legislation designed help him advance a sweeping deal with 11 Pacific-rim nations.
The House voted 302 to 126 to sink a measure to grant financial aid to displaced workers, fracturing hopes at the White House that the package would smooth the path for Congress to approve a separate bill to grant Obama fast-track authority to complete an accord with 11 other Pacific Rim nations.
“I will be voting to slow down fast-track,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on the floor moments before the vote, after keeping her intentions private for months. “Today we have an opportunity to slow down. Whatever the deal is with other countries, we want a better deal for American workers.”
The dramatic defeat could sink the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a sweeping free trade and regulatory pact that Obama has called central to his economic agenda at home and his foreign policy strategy in Asia. Obama’s loss came after a months-long lobbying blitz in which the president invested significant personal credibility and political capital.
Democrats snubbed Barack Obama despite his last minute plea with House Democrats.
Now President Obama wants to talk?
— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) June 12, 2015
Progressives cheer Pelosi over lameduck Obama.
Thank you Democratic Leader @NancyPelosi for standing with American workers against #TPA.
— Progressive Caucus (@USProgressives) June 12, 2015
WATCH: American hero @repjohnlewis gives powerful speech against Trade Promotion Authority: http://t.co/XeSldZVICO #StopFastTrack #NoTPP
— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) June 12, 2015