A Republican freshman lawmaker this week said he is actively working to generate opposition among the GOP caucus to congressional renewal of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) based on the argument that it would hand over authority to a president who he charged has stumbled on foreign policy.
[Reposted from Inside US Trade | March 19, 2015]
In a March 18 interview with Inside U.S. Trade, Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK) said other Republican lawmakers share his worries about giving Obama TPA based on the president’s foreign policy record, but did not say how many.
He also criticized the administration’s “Asia pivot” strategy, of which the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the economic component, on the grounds that the president and his team has not fully developed the military and diplomatic aspects of the strategy.
Russell held open the possibility that he could support TPA, also known as fast track, and a TPP agreement if they were done under another administration. Because of their mistrust of Obama on foreign policy, Republicans should hold off on passing TPA until the next president takes office, he argued.
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