The President is currently pushing Congress to permit him to use fast track authority regarding potential trade agreements with the European Union and members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This authority would allow the President to submit a completed trade agreement to Congress for a simple majority vote without allowing members of Congress a means to amend, filibuster, or even sufficiently debate the agreement.
Although such authority has been granted in the passage of past trade agreements, the scale of the proposed trade agreements and their potential effects on the economic, environmental, labor, and consumer protection regulations in the US and other signatory countries demands that these agreements are subject to a full and open debate in Congress and the public sphere.