Which 28 Dems Just Voted for Fast-Track?

Today was an interesting day down at Capitol Hill.

The House took three votes today related to expediting the passage of noxious trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

First up was Trade Adjustment Assistance, or TAA, a commonly featured complement passed along with trade deals that amounts to little more than a tip jar.

Here's David Dayen explaining this earlier today in the Fiscal Times:

When it comes to trade, for over 40 years — ever since the origin of the fast-track process — that sweetener for Democrats has been trade adjustment assistance (TAA). This program provides federal funds for workers displaced by free trade agreements, from job training and placement services to relocation expenses to income support to help with health insurance premiums. Democrats have traditionally supported TAA, even though it serves a corporate trade agenda that has helped to hollow out the U.S. manufacturing base and limit regulatory authority. It’s the spoonful of sugar that makes the trade medicine go down, so Democrats can go back to their districts and say that at least they got aid for outsourced workers.

The problem is there’s substantial disagreement on whether TAA even helps workers get new jobs. The far better alternative is to prevent policies that displace workers in the first place; TAA is like throwing a quarter in the tip jar for somebody that just lost their house. But because of the Washington dance, Democrats effectively bless deals that sell out American workers by voting for TAA, mainly because it sounds good — even though the benefits are quite uncertain.

The TAA bill that the House crafted, moreover, is being paid for with cuts to Medicare.

The liberal Democratic opponents of TPA/TPP decided that they would not play ball and pass TAA as it was assumed they would. In order for the bill to go straight to the president, the House would have had to pass the trade bills exactly as the Senate did. Rejecting TAA sends the whole thing back to committee, and the Senate Democrats who voted for fast track would be reluctant to pass it without the cover that TAA provides.

The TAA vote failed by a large margin: 126 to 302.

Only 86 Republicans and 40 Democrats voted for it.

Here are the 40 Democrats who voted to enable the trade ruse:

Brad Ashford (NE-02)
Karen Bass (CA-37)
Ami Bera (CA-07)
Don Beyer (VA-08)
Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
John Carney (DE-AL)
Jim Clyburn (SC-06)
Gerry Connolly (VA-11)
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Susan Davis (CA-53)
John Delaney (MD-06)
Suzan DelBene (WA-01)
Anna Eshoo (CA-18)
Sam Farr (CA-20)
Bill Foster (IL-11)
Denny Heck (WA-10)
Jim Himes (CT-04)
Steny Hoyer (MD-05)
Steve Israel (NY-03)
Eddie B. Johnson (TX-30)
Derek Kilmer (WA-06)
Ron Kind (WI-03)
Rick Larsen (WA-02)
John Larson (CT-01)
Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
Beto O’Rourke (TX-16)
Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)
Scott Peters (CA-52)
Jared Polis (CO-02)
David Price (NC-04)
Mike Quigley (IL-05)
Kathleen Rice (NY-04)
Cedric Richmond (LA-02)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Adam Smith (WA-09)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)

After TAA failed, John Boehner decided to bring up Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for a vote anyway.

The vote was 219 to 211.

191 Republicans and 28 Democrats voted for it. 157 Democrats and 54 Republicans voted against it.

Here are the 28 Democrats who voted against workers and the environment:

Brad Ashford (NE-02)
Ami Bera (CA-07)
Don Beyer (VA-08)
Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
Gerry Connolly (VA-11)
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Susan Davis (CA-53)
John Delaney (MD-06)
Suzan DelBene (WA-01)
Sam Farr (CA-20)
Jim Himes (CT-04)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)
Eddie B. Johnson (TX-30)
Derek Kilmer (WA-06)
Ron Kind (WI-03)
Rick Larsen (WA-02)
Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
Beto O’Rourke (TX-16)
Scott Peters (CA-52)
Jared Polis (CO-02)
Mike Quigley (IL-05)
Kathleen Rice (NY-04)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)

After TPA passed, John Boehner put forth a motion to consider the TAA bill. The chair (I don't know who he was. Honestly, there are so many old white men in the Republican Party it's difficult to tell.) called AYEs and NAYs on the motion to reconsider. NAYs were much louder, but he called it for the AYEs anyway. Sandy Levin (MI-09) asked for a recorded vote, and the chair delayed that until next week.

The last vote was on a customs enforcement bill with a weak currency manipulation measure passed by the Senate in lieu of a real measure against currency manipulation.

It passed 240 to 190.

228 Republicans and 12 Democrats voted for it. 173 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted against it.

Here are those 12 Democrats:

Brad Ashford (NE-02)
Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Eddie B. Johnson (TX-30)
Rick Larsen (WA-02)
Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Pete Visclosky (IN-01)