Can Obama trade deal be salvaged?

Measure is not dead despite suffering setback in House vote

“What I would concede is that our work is not done yet.” Josh Earnest, White House press secretary

House Democrats overwhelmingly rejected a key provision in President Obama’s trade deal Friday. And for a moment at least, a cornerstone of Obama’s second- term legacy appeared to be in ruins.

And then Obama’s agenda was dramatically salvaged — for the moment — by House Republicans.

The trade deal is not a done deal. But it’s not dead, either.

By a bipartisan vote of 126- 302, the House rejected a provision expanding trade adjustment assistance for workers who will be buffeted by the unforgiving winds of the global economy.

That vote came moments after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., announced her opposition to the plan. Without her support, conservative House Republicans bailed, reasoning that they no longer had any reason to go along with a program that necessitated an increase in taxes to make a trade vote more palatable to Democrats.

Obama’s trade agenda appeared to be dead. Without trade adjustment assistance, there would be no vote on a “fast- track” trade promotion authority. And without fast- track, there would likely be no Trans- Pacific Partnership. Game. Set ... What now? Like Hulk Hogan in a headlock, House Speaker John Boehner, ROhio, quickly pulled off a highstakes legislative maneuver. His chief lieutenant, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R- Calif., called for an immediate vote on “fast track” even without the job training sweetener. It passed, 219- 211. That vote kept the trade package alive, but it still needs some form of trade adjustment assistance to win Senate support. And when the congressional leadership and the president agree that something must pass, it usually does.

Pelosi suggested one path out of the tangle: Tying passage of the trade deal to a job- creating high- way bill that Democrats would support.

Obama did not speak publicly after the votes.

But White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest put an optimistic face on the situation, dismissing the initial rebuke by House Democrats as another “procedural snafu.”

“We’re obviously gratified that we were able to advance that legislation with bipartisan support,” he said, noting the 28 House Democrats who voted for the bill “exceeded expectations.” The Democratic magic number was assumed to be closer to 20. He said, “That’s a strong endorsement of the president’s strategy. But what I would concede is that our work is not done yet.”