The White House concedes that any hopes of a Congressional vote on trade early this week have been crushed, and that President Obama hadn’t been in touch with House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi in recent days.
Undaunted, spokesman Josh Earnest continued to describe Pelosi’s rebellion against President Obama on trade as a “procedural snafu” that would be addressed.
He confirmed that Obama had been speaking with Speaker John Boehner on the phone about trade in recent days, but not Pelosi.
Pelosi continues to throw up road blocks to Obama’s trade agenda and is adding to her list of demands.
In an op-ed published this morning, Pelosi even went so far to suggest that the United Nations should be in charge of negotiating a trade deal.
Pelosi is invited to the Congressional picnic at the White House tomorrow, Earnest confirmed, but did not know if she planned to attend.
He added that he didn’t “expect a lot of arm twisting to take place,” during the picnic on Obama’s trade agenda, describing the annual summer event as a “social event.”
Pelosi is also scheduled to attend a fundraiser for Congressional Democrats later this week with Obama in California.
When asked if Obama and Pelosi were on bad terms now, Earnest replied, “No. I wouldn’t say that at all.”