Senate Republicans emerged from their weekly luncheon Tuesday with a clear directive from party leaders: Don’t let Harry Reid get away with acting like he’s still majority leader.

They reacted with frustration and amusement to the Nevada Democrat’s latest gambit to block bipartisan trade legislation that he and much of his caucus oppose unless Republicans first address his demands. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell implored his caucus to band together against Reid, sources inside the room said.


“It takes a bit of an adjustment to move from majority leader back to minority leader,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who has served as an emissary between Reid and McConnell. “Maybe Sen. Reid has got some adjusting to do. It’s the prerogative of the majority leader to set the schedule. … He should understand that.”

Another senator, who asked not to be named, said of Reid’s strategy: “It’s comical. If we’re going to avoid such a fate, we have got to stick together.”

It’s unclear, though, whether Republicans have the votes to stop Reid. The Senate minority leader is trying to cobble together 41 votes against Trade Promotion Authority legislation that would allow the president to fast-track new trade deals. He’s attempting to force floor votes on surveillance legislation and a highway funding bill before the Senate takes up the trade measure, which Reid and much of his caucus oppose.

Reid’s procedural power play is putting pro-trade Democrats in a squeeze between supporting their Senate leader and backing President Barack Obama, who views the historic trade deals as a major part of his second-term agenda. If it works, the move would give opponents weeks longer to muster opposition to TPA, which is a necessary first step to enacting the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest trade agreement in history. Close votes are expected in the House and possibly the Senate, and White House officials have been blanketing the Hill trying to line up support.

The president “needs to work it, there’s no question about it. It’s unusual when you have the leader of the Democrats against what the president would like to do,” sighed Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the primary mover of the Senate’s pro-trade efforts. “This is the most important bill in this president’s eight years.”

In the Democrats’ own lunch gathering Tuesday, Reid urged his caucus to hang tight on the procedural vote, saying that there isn’t enough time to finish efforts to overhaul infrastructure legislation and the PATRIOT Act, both of which expire when the Senate is set to adjourn for its Memorial Day recess. He seemed to have the support of much, if not all, of his caucus, senators said. The Democratic co-sponsor of the trade bill, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, did not object to Reid’s strategy, senators said.

After their dueling lunches, McConnell and Reid sparred over who’s in charge.

“There’s been some question about what’s next. That’s the responsibility of the majority. And we’ll be going to trade promotion next,” McConnell told reporters.

The Democratic leader’s response: “Who’s he trying to convince: him or me?”

Reid’s tactics are emblematic of his approach as minority leader. While he frequently derided McConnell’s use of the filibuster when Republicans were in the minority, Reid has increasingly used the procedural tool as a negotiating tactic to force the GOP to capitulate to his demands. He thwarted GOP efforts to defund Obama’s immigration actions and held up a popular human-trafficking bill over liberal opposition to an abortion provision appended to it.

In so doing, Reid has been able to disrupt McConnell’s carefully planned agenda and what has become a surprisingly productive work period for the gridlocked Congress.

But Reid’s latest tactic is his biggest gamble yet, given the bipartisan support for trade legislation, including from at least one vulnerable Democrat — Michael Bennet of Colorado — and a White House eager to tout its strength on the global stage. He is telling his pro-trade Democrats that he will eventually yield and let the matter come for a debate — but that might not happen until June.

Senators and aides supportive of Reid’s plan couldn’t say for sure whether he has the votes to block the fast-track legislation from being debated next week, leaving its immediate future in question.

Some pro-trade Democrats clearly are uneasy about Reid’s tactics.

“Probably not,” said Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who voted for the TPA bill in the Finance Committee, when asked whether he’d back Reid’s tactics. “I probably will have a different view.”

Added Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who also voted for the bill in committee: “I want to go on and get TPA up and get it passed. So they can go on and get the negotiating done” on the TPP agreement.

But so far, Carper and Nelson are the only two Democrats who’ve said they’d break ranks with Reid; at least four others would be needed to allow McConnell to forge ahead next week on trade legislation, assuming the GOP leader is able to keep Southern Republicans who are skeptical of trade deals to side with him on opening debate. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the lone Republican to oppose the bill in committee, said in an interview he would vote to open debate on the bill, shoring up the GOP’s whip count.

But several other prominent Democratic backers of the TPA legislation refused to commit to advancing the bill when it comes to the floor next week, sometime after the Senate finishes an Iran-related bill. The list of on-the-fence senators includes Democratic Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Mark Warner of Virginia and even Finance Committee ranking member Wyden — all of whom supported the trade legislation in committee — as well as potential trade supporters Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Patty Murray of Washington.

“We want to make sure some other things get dealt with,” Cantwell said.

“The TPA has time. The highway bill and a couple of other things don’t,” Feinstein concluded.

Given the array of Democrats who are declining to say they will break with Reid, the GOP’s chief vote counter conceded that the minority leader’s threat should be taken seriously.

“If they want to do it, then they can probably do it. But why they would want to kneecap the president’s biggest economic priority is beyond me,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas).

While Reid is unlikely to stop the trade bill in the end, his move could make it impossible for the Senate to wrap up the measure before the chamber breaks for its Memorial Day recess around May 22. And his goal is as much to disrupt new trade pacts as it is to smoke out McConnell’s tightly held plans on how to meet May’s deadlines.

Democrats believe there’s no hope of finishing trade and making tangible progress on the surveillance and transportation legislation in the limited time left before statutory deadlines, and they are seeking to highlight the increasingly likely possibility that lawmakers will be forced to swallow stopgap extensions for both at the last minute.

“Look, here’s the bottom line. We have two immediate deadlines: [Surveillance] and highways. If we get on trade, we’ll never get to them,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “What Harry has done makes some sense.”

McConnell prefers a straight reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act, shrugging off reform proposals from House members and some senators. And given the difficulty Congress has had passing infrastructure funding, it’s a long shot that Congress can come up with a multibillion dollar package for roads, bridges and transit in the next two weeks.

“I don’t know if his math is different than mine,” Reid said of McConnell. “But I kinda understand how the floor works and I think it would be really unwise to leave here without doing something on [surveillance] and highways.”