(Wonk Alert) This week I’ve heard some congressional staff erroneously claim that Congress can rescind fast track procedures if the Obama administration fails to achieve the 150 negotiating objectives.  This is not true. The Hatch/Wyden/Ryan trade authority bill introduced last week was promoted as an improvement over prior trade authority bills.  It “puts Congress…

  On the eve of a Finance Committee markup, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Tuesday (April 21) told the sponsors of the pending Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill that amendments seeking enforceable rules against currency manipulation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could make it hard to conclude an agreement given the opposition that other participants…

  Under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed free-trade agreement, Congress could lose the power to control immigration policy. We could find ourselves back in the era before there were restrictions on immigration and anyone from anywhere could come to our shores. And Republicans, from leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner on down, are unwittingly…