[JORDAIN CARNEY| November 11, 2016 |The Hill]
Sen. Charles Schumer is signaling that President Obama’s signature trade agreement won’t clear Congress, roughly two days after Republican Donald Trump — who opposes the deal — won the White House.
A source familiar with the New York Democrat’s remarks said he told the AFL-CIO executive council that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-Ky.) said he wouldn’t bring the deal up in the lame-duck session of Congress.
Schumer, who has voiced concerns that the deal doesn’t do enough to crack down on currency manipulation, told CNBC’s John Harwood in mid-October that he thought the TPP “may well get” 51 votes if McConnell brought it to the floor after the election.
But that was before Trump’s surprise White House win. The president-elect has disavowed Obama’s trade agreement, saying in June “there is no way to fix TPP” and that the country needs bilateral agreements.
The Asia-Pacific trade agreement faced an uphill path even before Tuesday’s election. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and McConnell have both suggested it doesn’t have the votes, and outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is opposed to it.
Asked about its chances on Wednesday, McConnell reiterated that it wouldn’t be brought up this year and that its future in 2017 is up to Trump.
“I think the president-elect made it pretty clear he was not in favor of the current agreement. But he has the latitude because [the Trade Promotion Authority] is in place through the next administration to negotiate better deals, as I think he would put it, if he chooses to. And sending it up to us for an expedited up-or-down vote,” he told reporters.
