Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has incensed Republicans by acting as though he’s still the majority leader while leading the charge against a bipartisan bill fast-tracking trade deals, according to
Politico.
In the wake of Reid’s efforts to enlist his supporters to block the legislation unless the GOP first accepts his demands, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called on his members to stand together against the Nevada Democrat.
During the GOP’s weekly luncheon on Tuesday, McConnell and other party leaders declared that the caucus should not let Reid attempt to blur the lines as to exactly who is running the Senate agenda, Politico reported.
"It takes a bit of an adjustment to move from majority leader back to minority leader," said GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who has often acted as an emissary between Reid and McConnell.
"Maybe Sen. Reid has got some adjusting to do. It's the prerogative of the majority leader to set the schedule. He should understand that."
Another senator, who asked not to be named, told the political news website that Reid’s strategy is "comical," and added, "If we’re going to avoid such a fate, we have got to stick together."
The problem is that Senate Republicans need 60 votes to push the legislation through in a procedural vote, while the Senate minority leader is trying to drum up 41 votes against the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation that would allow the president to fast-track new trade deals.
According to Politico, Reid is hoping to force floor votes on surveillance legislation and a highway funding bill before the Senate looks at the historic trade measure, which Reid and many Democrats oppose.
Democrats who support the trade legislation are caught in a procedural tug-of-war between supporting Reid, their Senate leader, and backing President Barack Obama, who plans to make fast deals a signature policy in his final term.
Reid hopes his delaying tactics would give him and other TPA opponents several weeks to talk other members into voting against fast-track deals, according to Politico, which said that the TPA is seen as a vital step to enacting the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest trade agreement in U.S. history.
The report said that because competitive votes are expected in the House and the Senate, and White House officials have been meeting with Democratic senators on Capitol Hill to support the measure and prevent Reid’s power play.
Obama "needs to work it, there’s no question about it. It’s unusual when you have the leader of the Democrats against what the president would like to do," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah, who’s leading GOP efforts for the trade bill. "This is the most important bill in (his) eight years."
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