Trade Deal a Win for Pence—And His Lobbyist Pals
Congress and the White House appear to have reached a deal on a landmark North American free-trade agreement (not to be confused with the North American Free Trade Agreement), and few people in Washington are more pleased about it than Mike Pence.
Since President Donald Trump took it upon his administration to remake North American trade policy, upending a 20-year tenure of mostly free-flowing goods on the continent, it has largely fallen to the vice president to whip up support for the plan in Congress, among the president’s supporters, and in the public more generally.
In a statement Tuesday, Pence was characteristically deferential to his boss. “Thanks to the strong leadership of President [Trump] and the efforts of our Administration over the last year, Speaker Pelosi and Congressional Democrats have finally acquiesced to the voice of the American people have agreed to allow a vote on the USMCA in the House,” he tweeted. But the deal was undoubtedly a win for Pence personally.