When the bill containing Donald Trump’s revisions to NAFTA—a large part of which involved changing the name from NAFTA—reached Congress, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi requested time to review the bill and to work with the White House on resolving some sticking points in the treaty. Trump agreed to that idea. But following his decision to storm out of an infrastructure meeting and announce that he was holding the nation hostage to his pique over congressional investigations, Trump questioned whether Pelosi was “smart enough” to understand the deal. And now Trump is pulling the plug on negotiations and moving forward with steps that would force an up-or-down vote on his trade plan, warts and all.
According to The Washington Post, Trump plans to submit a draft Statement of Administrative Action (SAA) to Congress on his redubbed trade deal. The SAA would also describe both the legislative requirements and the executive branch regulations that would be needed to support the U.S. side of the agreement. It would also be required to include the final draft of the treaty itself.
Sending the SAA would be a signal that the White House is cutting off any further changes or additions to the treaty and locking down both the legislative and the regulatory ends of the agreement in the U.S. without allowing anymore input from Congress. The move comes over objections from Pelosi, and would start a 30-day clock on the submission of a final agreement for Congress’ approval … or disapproval.
In 1993, the House vote on NAFTA was a relative squeaker. The bill passed 234 to 200, but the winning margin came from Republicans. Democrats voted against the bill 156-102. Pelosi was one of those voting in favor.
This sort of trade deal hasn’t exactly become more popular in the last two decades, and pushing Democrats to vote on a treaty they’re not inclined to support bu using an aggressive move that cuts off the ability to negotiate on implementation may be an express path to defeat.
