Democrats wage civil war over trade deal

Congressional Democrats were at war with the White House Tuesday, after the Senate rejected a procedural vote on President Obama’s top legislative priorities, and one prominent lawmaker essentially accused Obama of sexism over his criticism of Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Obama and Democrats have been feuding for weeks over the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trade Promotion Authority Bill he needs to approve the trade pact. Both sides fought their first pitched battle on the floor of the Senate Tuesday, and tensions have clearly escalated.

Obama has not been shy about criticizing Warren, the liberal Massachusetts senator who has been a leader of opposition to the trade deal in the upper chamber. “She’s absolutely wrong,” the president recently told Yahoo! News. “The truth of the matter is that Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else,” he said, using the dreaded p-word.

Tuesday afternoon, after the Trade Promotion Authority Bill failed, Sen. Sherrod Brown took a victory lap at a press conference. And when asked about Obama’s comments on Warren, the Ohio Democrat accused Obama of a sin rarely charged by a fellow party member. “I think the president was disrespectful to her, the way he did that,” Brown told reporters. “I think the president has made this more personal than he needed to.”

Brown went even further, before holding himself back. “I think referring to her as her first name, when he might not have done that for a male Senator, perhaps? I’ve said enough,” Brown added. He didn’t have to finish the thought for his intent to be understood.

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