WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Republican leadership of the US House of Representatives is expected to sneak a vote to reconsider giving the US President’s fast-track trade promotion authority (TPA) on Tuesday afternoon, Congressman Lloyd Doggett told the press.
“They [House Republicans] have a motion up… to postpone this whole agreement for six weeks because they do not have the votes today,” Doggett said Tuesday morning of Republican efforts to reintroduce the fast-track legislation.
He characterized the maneuver as “trickery,” calling it “unprecedented.”
Last Friday, the House defeated a bill to provide US President Barack Obama with the authority to negotiate major free-trade agreements. After the Friday vote, Republican leaders said they would reintroduce the measure on Tuesday.
Fast Track is the Wrong Track. Hear my House floor speech against #TPA here: https://t.co/JI36dWjfUl
— Lloyd Doggett (@RepLloydDoggett) 11 июня 2015
House Republicans will introduce a measure Tuesday afternoon to extend the consideration of the fast-track bill for the next six weeks, Doggett said. “What that does is give the Speaker [of the House] unfettered authority between now and July 30… to pick any time… and demand a record vote,” he explained.
It is possible that the bill would be brought up, approved and sent to the President when members are absent, he warned.
The TPA fast-track authority would enable President Obama to conclude the ongoing free-trade agreements with US trade partners in the Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific. The US Congress would be relegated to a vote for or against the trade agreements after they are concluded.
The content of the free-trade deals has not been made public, and members of Congress are only given limited, classified access to the trade documents.
