Heidi Cruz argues forcefully for trade authority -- something Ted opposes

In a radio interview on South Carolina’s Vince Coakley Radio Program, Heidi Cruz argued free trade is a powerfully good force and that presidents should have increased powers to negotiate trade deals — a policy that has become particularly controversial over the last year as President Obama has pushed for what’s called trade-promotion authority (TPA) to negotiate a U.S.-Asian Pacific trade agreement.

And then she said Ted Cruz voted for TPA. Sen. Cruz, while initially voting for TPA in May of 2015, was one of only five Republicans to vote against it when it came up for another vote in the Senate later that June. At the time, Cruz explained that his reversal was a result of his opposition to the Export-Import Bank and new immigration provisions introduced by the House.

A Cruz spokesman told BuzzFeed News: “Cruz supports free trade but voted against TPA because he did not want President Obama to have the authority to unilaterally make bad trade deals.”