August 31, 2019

BLACKSTONE, Va. — Rep. Abigail Spanberger squinted into the August sun as the farmer beside her laid out how his profits on corn and soybeans are sinking — and how he believes passing President Donald Trump’s new North American trade agreement could help.

Spanberger and other moderate freshman Democrats who flipped Republican districts to hand their party the majority in 2018 could be key to getting a vote on the U.S.-Mexico Canada Agreement this year. And even though that would give Trump a policy victory heading into the 2020 election, members of this group are beginning to put increasing pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring the measure to the floor as they head back from a summer recess spent talking to impatient constituents.

“If we’re not seeing progress, if we’re not seeing the implementation documents by October, I think that’s a serious, serious problem,” Spanberger told POLITICO at the tail end of a two-day swing through her district’s rural areas, where she heard from farmers pleading for relief from trade policies that have gutted their profits.

Read more:

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/31/democrats-trade-trump-1691486