MN House delegation divided on trade vote
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives halted President Barack Obama's effort to expand his trade negotiating power, and Minnesota's DFL representatives helped take it down.
At issue was a measure meant to help workers displaced by international trade. It sank 302-126 in the House, with 144 Democrats voting against it.
The move is a bad sign for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major trade deal with 11 Pacific Rim countries. Obama wanted Congress to give him "fast-track" authority to approve the deal. But that measure and worker aid must move through Congress hand-in-hand.
Despite Obama's lobbying blitz on the Hill, 5th District DFL Rep. Keith Ellison remained unconvinced.
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“The defeat of The Trade Act is a big step towards stopping the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership," Ellison said in a statement shared with his co-chair of the Progressive Caucus Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz. “The fight is far from over. President Obama and the Republican majority will not stop pushing until they get the rubber-stamp they need to sign another bad trade deal."
First District DFL Rep. Tim Walz voted against the measure, too.
“While I support the idea of TAA, my focus is on keeping the jobs we already have," he said in a statement. "We wouldn’t need TAA if we didn’t have folks lose their jobs from bad past trade deals, like NAFTA."
The rest of the Minnesota delegation was divided along party lines, with Democrats voting with Ellison and Walz against the measure and Republicans voting for it.