Senate Maneuver Blocks "Mock" Markup of Trade Deals

Senate Republicans have temporarily blocked a first step in taking up three long-stalled trade agreements just hours before they were set to be considered.

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a “mock” markup Thursday afternoon of pending trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, along with a renewal of expired Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits for workers.

But Thursday morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — at the request of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — withdrew a waiver that would have allowed the committee to meet this afternoon. Specifically, under Rule XXVI, no committee may hold a meeting beyond the first two hours of the Senate’s day, except by unanimous consent. This is usually a pro forma matter, but McConnell exercised his right to block the markup.

A Republican leadership aide confirmed that the GOP declined the consent request for the markup because it had been planned for so late in the day. The aide said that Republicans would have agreed to hold the meeting Thursday morning, but not at 3 p.m., as had been scheduled.

Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said GOP senators were “very offended” that the markup was being held late in the day at the end of the week, particularly after 97 amendments had been filed.

“We’re just going to have to make a final decision on this, but I doubt seriously the markup will go forward today,” he said.

Under the procedures governing congressional action on trade, the Ways and Means panel and the Senate Finance Committee do not formally mark up the implementing legislation for trade pacts; rather, they hold an informal markup, effectively allowing members to register concerns and send suggestions to the administration before it submits trade deals.

So far Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has not announced the markup’s cancellation or postponement.

The trade deals were negotiated by the George W. Bush administration, but stalled after Democrats took over Congress in 2007. President Obama successfully made some changes to the deals and is now pushing for their ratification. The White House is also insisting that expanded TAA benefits be simultaneously extended for workers harmed by international competition.

The benefits extension is attached to the South Korea deal. GOP lawmakers strongly support the trade agreements but have balked at tying the TAA benefits to the deals. Conservative lawmakers argue the benefits are ineffective and too expensive.

Earlier this week, the Obama administration and Senate Democrats, led by Baucus, announced they had reached a compromise on the TAA extension with House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and were moving forward with an informal “mock” markup of the bills to implement the trade agreements. But Camp has made clear that he will not endorse the Democrats’ procedural plan, and will defer to GOP leadership on advancing the legislation.

The agreements are a top priority for the business community. In advance of the markup, R. Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged panel members to support the bills for implementing the trade agreements, along with the TAA assistance, and to oppose all amendments.

Niels Lesniewski contributed to this story.

First posted June 30, 2011 11:39 a.m.