House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stood behind the podium in the Rayburn Room for a second time on Tuesday morning, this time to announce her support of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and tossing a massive legislative victory to President Trump.
The dissonance was striking. Just an hour before, Pelosi stood alongside party leadership as she and House Judiciary and Intelligence Committee Chairmen Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced their two articles of impeachment against Trump. And with the USMCA announcement on Tuesday, Pelosi and the rest of her caucus effectively squelched Trump’s predictable “Do-Nothing Democrats” line of defense against impeachment.
“It’s a victory for American workers and it’s one we take great pride in advancing,” Pelosi said of the agreement, which would replace NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the current trade deal that President Trump spent much of his 2016 campaign vowing to replace. Trump and the leaders of Mexico and Canada signed off on the deal late last year, but Congress has not yet approved the new agreement. Trump’s targeted Pelosi for the stall in approval, but the speaker said on Tuesday that the administration’s version of the deal needed serious work.
House Dems announce support of the USMCA pic.twitter.com/DhNzizqR3w
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 10, 2019
The new agreement would in part raise the percentage of automobiles that are made in North America and would eventually lower the cost of prescription drugs over the course of the next decade.
Trump responded positively to the news on Tuesday, despite having just tweeted a slew of insults at Schiff and Nadler over the impeachment announcement.
America’s great USMCA Trade Bill is looking good. It will be the best and most important trade deal ever made by the USA. Good for everybody – Farmers, Manufacturers, Energy, Unions – tremendous support. Importantly, we will finally end our Country’s worst Trade Deal, NAFTA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019
Looking like very good Democrat support for USMCA. That would be great for our Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019
