White House launches frantic campaign to save trade deal
Edward-Isaac Dovere | 6/11/15 4:45 PM EDT | Updated 6/11/15 9:41 PM EDT
Trying to close out a tight game after a day when his trade agenda reached the brink of failure, President Barack Obama made a last-minute, unscheduled run to the congressional baseball game Thursday night.
Popping up out of the Democrats’ dug-out at Nationals Park with 24 White House beers on offer for the winning team, Obama was greeted with Republicans chanting “TPA, TPA!”
The appearance, not on the president’s schedule and not expected until just before he got into the motorcade, topped a day of heavy lobbying from administration officials trying to save fast track authority after House Democrats’ internal struggles pushed Obama’s top legislative priority perilously close to defeat.
Obama’s chief of staff Denis McDonough finished the afternoon in a meeting with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), whom the White House has been counting on to help bring the trade deal over the line — but who in the last few days seemed on the brink of derailing the legislation over a dispute about paying for Trade Adjustment Assistance, a safety net program for workers displaced by trade deals...
...Through the day, Obama made phone calls to reluctant Democrats from the White House...
MORE: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/house-democrats-vote-trade-bill-unfair-fast-track-barack-obama-118892.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Nice try.
