Vice President Mike Pence to visit Lexington and talk trade

Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Kentucky on Friday, the latest member of the Trump administration to visit the state where President Trump’s ally, Gov. Matt Bevin is up for re-election.

Pence will travel first to Louisiana to visit Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, one of three historically black churches that have burned in less than two weeks. He will later visit Lexington’s Hallway Feeds, where he will meet with employees at the horse feed manufacturing company to talk about the Trump administration’s new North American free trade deal.

The proposed trade pact is a priority for the administration, but needs to pass Congress where it faces an uphill climb. The Republican-controlled Senate is unhappy with the administration’s trade tariffs while the Democratic-led House doesn’t think the deal includes enforcement mechanisms that are strong enough to bring Mexico’s labor laws up to speed.

A contingent of Senate Republicans were to meet at the White House Thursday to discuss trade policy following a warning from Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, that the trade deal would be “dead” if the tariffs aren’t lifted.

“There is no appetite in Congress to debate USMCA with these tariffs in place,” Grassley said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Pence is also scheduled to attend the Kentucky Governor’s Ball, a Kentucky Derby-related event that is being held the night before the race.

As Pence and Trump were marking the National Day of Prayer at the White House on Thursday, Bevin tweeted that he was “so grateful for a @POTUS and @VP who believe strongly in the power of prayer.”

Pence is the latest Trump administration official to visit the state where Bevin is up for re-election in November in a race that has drawn national attention. November. His Democratic challengers face off in a primary on May 21.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler was in Kentucky last month, promoting the administration’s efforts to reduce food waste.

Pence was in Kentucky last March, touting the administration’s record on behalf of Rep. Andy Barr, R-Kentucky.