[Magnum44]

I am confused by the terminology in the article. Is this TPA?

[exit82]

This was the TPA. The TPA enables the TPP to proceed to negotiation, then the TPP gets voted on by Congress. But only in an up or down fashion, no amendments, and only a 51 vote threshold needed to pass in the Senate, instead of the Constitution threshold of 67 votes (2/3rds present) for a treaty to be approved.

So if the Senate approves TPA, the TPP is a go, and Congress will see it when it has been negotiated. The parts of it that are known are under seal, and members of Congress have to go to a special room, and in the presence of a proctor, are given one page at a time to read, and it is something like 600 pages so far.

And only a handful of our 535 people in Congress have even bothered to do so.