US Senator Elizabeth Warren hit back at US President Barack Obama in their tussle over “fast-track” authorization to negotiate a Pacific Rim trade treaty, a power that she says could be used in the future to weaken Wall Street reforms.
Obama, who wants expedited negotiating power to streamline the passage of trade deals through the US Congress, last week said that Warren’s claims were “absolutely wrong.”
Warren, a Democrat and prominent liberal voice, stuck to her view in an interview published on Monday on a Washington Post blog, saying Obama should release details of the trade talks so legal experts can determine whether a pact could weaken US bank rules.
“If the president is so confident it is a good deal, he should declassify the text and let people see it before asking Congress to tie its hands on fixing it,” Warren said in the interview with the Plum Line blog.
Also on Monday, the second-ranking US Senate Democrat raised doubt that there were enough votes among Democrats to propel the fast-track bill over a procedural hurdle yesterday.
“At this point, it is very questionable” that US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, can get the 60 votes needed to limit debate on whether to formally bring the bill onto the Senate floor, US Senator Dick Durbin said.
McConnell had until the middle of yesterday afternoon to find those votes in the 100-member Senate.
Senate Democrats want the bill to be tied to three other trade measures, including legislation providing training to US workers who lose their jobs as a result of trade deals. They also want to link it to a measure stopping China from manipulating its currency to get a leg up on trade.
US Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch said late on Monday: “There is no compromise that can be reached” rolling all four trade bills into one, but he and Durbin said there could be ways to craft a different compromise.
The dispute between Obama and Warren, both Democrats, reflects a split within the party over the White House’s trade agenda, which includes the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), stretching from Japan to Chile.
On Monday, the White House stood firm in what it called a “substantive disagreement.”
“The president was blunt about the fact that some of her facts were wrong,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
Warren has said fast-track authority, which would mean Congress could approve or reject deals like the TPP, but not change specific provisions, could be used by a future president to weaken Wall Street reforms that she championed.
Obama, in an unusual alliance with congressional Republicans, says the pact would open new markets for US goods. Many Democrats fear the deal would hurt US workers.
Warren joined with 13 other Democratic senators in writing to the US Trade Representative to say countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Mexico should have to change their labor laws before receiving any US trade benefits.
“American workers cannot compete against workers in these countries where fundamental worker rights are not protected,” said the letter dated Friday last week that was released on Monday.
Among the signatories was US Senator Ben Cardin, one of seven Democrats who backed fast-track legislation during debate in the Senate Finance Committee.
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