House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she’s fighting with, not against, President Obama on trade, saying her criticism of his request for fast-track authority to negotiate free trade deals is meant to be constructive.
The California Democrat faces a tough political bind, feeling pressure to back her party chief even as the vast majority of her fellow House Democrats say the deal Mr. Obama is backing is bad for American workers.
“I’m not opposing the president. I think the president wants what we want,” she said.
Mr. Obama is backing a bipartisan agreement on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which sets outs a process for negotiating trade deals. TPA is seen as a critical first step in trying to finalize an Asian trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the U.S. is negotiating with 11 other nations.
Mrs. Pelosi said most Democrats’ opposition to the current bipartisan TPA legislation should not be seen as an attack on Mr. Obama in particular. She pointed to votes in the late 1990s, when President Clinton was in office, and the early 2000s, when President George W. Bush was in the White House, when Democrats were also overwhelmingly opposed to fast-track authority.
This time around, Mrs. Pelosi said she and her troops are “eager to come to yes” on the trade deal, but much of it depends on the specifics of the bill. And given that some Democratic support will likely be needed to get the bill through the House, she said that gives her a chance to have a say.
“I don’t know why it’s such a mystery that everybody wouldn’t try to get something better where we have leverage,” she said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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