--- title: Josh Earnest: Obama Would Veto Trade Agreement With Currency Amendment description: The amendment presented by Sen. Portman, Earnest said Tuesday would “undermine the ability of the Federal Reserve" canonical: https://time.com/3889740/barack-obama-trade-veto/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-19T19:21:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:27:43.220Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Says Would Veto Trade Bill With Currency Amendment og:description: The amendment presented by Sen. Portman, Earnest said Tuesday would “undermine the ability of the Federal Reserve" og:url: https://time.com/3889740/barack-obama-trade-veto/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73e78b04882e9d2c/69884d150b72e37d236e3b66/barack-obama3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Says Would Veto Trade Bill With Currency Amendment twitter:description: The amendment presented by Sen. Portman, Earnest said Tuesday would “undermine the ability of the Federal Reserve" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73e78b04882e9d2c/69884d150b72e37d236e3b66/barack-obama3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Says Would Veto Trade Bill If Currency Amendment is Added > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=9d5726d0-05c8-44e6-84a1-519fbdcac2de&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 19, 2015 7:21 PM UTC  President Barack Obama speaks at a news conference after meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders at Camp David in Md. on May 14, 2015. President Barack Obama speaks at a news conference after meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders at Camp David in Md. on May 14, 2015. Andrew Harnik—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 19, 2015 7:21 PM UTC White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday the President would consider vetoing the entire trade authority bill if an amendment co-sponsored by Sens. Rob Portman and Debbie Stabenow were to pass. A vote an amendment that would target countries that manipulate the value of their currency to improve the prices of their exports could come as soon as this week in the Senate, Politico reports. Under [Portman’s amendment](http://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2015/4/portman-fights-for-level-playing-field-on-trade-with-amendment-addressing-currency-manipulation), countries would be held to standards set by the International Monetary Fund. The amendment, Earnest said during Tuesday’s briefing, would “undermine the ability of the Federal Reserve” and if it were to come across the president’s desk he would “even take the extraordinary step of vetoing the TPA bill.” “The president would certainly not support that kind of provision,” Earnest said Tuesday, though he said there are additional amendments the administration is open to considering. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3889740/barack-obama-trade-veto/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3889740/barack-obama-trade-veto/"},"headline":"White House Says Would Veto Trade Bill If Currency Amendment is Added","datePublished":"2015-05-19T19:21:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:27:43.220Z","description":"The amendment presented by Sen. 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