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This Friday, Jan. 16, 2015 photo shows U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez at a news conference in Union Beach, N.J. and in this Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015 photo, President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington.(AP)

President Obama, for all the flak he took from Republicans over his combative State of the Union address, now is running into turbulence from members of his own party who could prove an even bigger barrier to his agenda.

Democrats from across the political spectrum spent Wednesday taking aim at parts of the presidents platform. Though in the minority, they hold sway because Democratic defectors particularly in the Senate could make the difference in helping Republicans pass key legislation, and even override a presidential veto.

Already, a top-ranking Senate Democrat has renewed pressure on Obama to slow his diplomatic outreach to Cuba and to Iran. House and Senate Democrats also convened a press conference on Wednesday to blast his push for new free-trade deals. Meanwhile, Democrats are likely to play a big role in advancing a bill in the Senate approving the Keystone XL pipeline.

On Wednesday, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., leveled some of the toughest Democratic criticism to date regarding the presidents foreign policy.

On the day the U.S. opened historic talks with the Cuban government in Havana, Menendez, who is Cuban-American and is the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry warning about the Castro regimes intentions.

Mr. Secretary, after five decades of authoritarian, one-party rule, we must recognize that the Castros will never relax their iron-fisted control over Cuba unless compelled to do so, he wrote. As the Administration pursues further engagement with Cuba, I urge you to link the pace of changes in U.S. policy to reciprocal action from the Castro regime.

Menendez voiced concern that a few of the political prisoners released by Cuba as part of the deal were rearrested, and about U.S. fugitives hiding out in Cuba, among other issues. He said all these matters must be addressed before re-establishing diplomatic ties.

Shortly afterward, the senator scorched administration officials at a Senate committee hearing over their pushback on lawmakers effort to set up new potential sanctions against Iran. The legislation would provide for sanctions if Iran does not strike a deal with the U.S. and other nations curbing its nuclear enrichment program.

Obama, in his State of the Union address, said this legislation would "all but guarantee that diplomacy fails, and threatened to veto.

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FRIENDLY FIRE: Democrats take aim at parts of Obama's agenda

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Wednesday vigorously defended President Barack Obamas request for trade promotion authority in the face of opposition from liberal Democrats opposed to more trade deals.

TPA puts Congress in the drivers seat to define U.S. negotiating objectives and priorities for trade, Froman said in a speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in downtown Washington.

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It clarifies and strengthens public and congressional oversight by requiring consultation and transparency throughout the negotiating process, he said. It makes clear to our trading partners that the administration and Congress are on the same page in negotiating high standards in our trade agreements standards that will protect our workers and environment.

Fromans spirited defense came just a day after Obama called for the legislation in his State of the Union speech and as liberal Democrats met across town to express their opposition to the legislation. The top trade officials remarks responded directly to charges that the legislation transfers too much congressional authority over trade to the White House and allows secret negotiations on trade deals that will wind up facilitating a race to the bottom to boost corporate profits.

As he spoke, liberal Democrats led by Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro and New York Rep. Louise Slaughter held a press conference in the Capitol Building to level those very accusations.

I believe there is very broad support in the Congress in opposition to fast track, DeLauro said. I believe that we can win this vote as we have in the past.

The TPA bill, also known as fast-track legislation, would allow the White House to put trade deals before Congress for simple up-or-down votes without amendments. The bill is considered key to wrapping up the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership pact with Japan and 10 other countries and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the 28-nation European Union because it provides negotiating countries with the assurance that Congress wont undo the provisions of the deals.

Froman, in response to a question, said he was confident Congress would approve the legislation. But the administration was taking nothing for granted and was working with both parties to ensure that weve got the necessary support, he said.

The United States needed both the Asia-Pacific and European agreements to ensure its exporters have fair access to growing overseas markets, he said.

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Froman, liberal Democrats clash on trade authority

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POLITICO Pro

The GOP accepts the notion of climate change - but not the way Democrats wanted them to.

By Elana Schor

1/21/15 4:59 PM EST

Updated 1/21/15 8:55 PM EST

Senate Republicans head-faked Democrats on climate change Wednesday, agreeing in a floor vote that the planets climate was changing, but blocking language that would have blamed human activity.

In a complicated maneuver that was the first politically perilous test for Senate Republicans, the new majority party split up the votes that Democrats had hoped would force the GOP into an awkward roll call on whether they believed in the science behind climate change just hours after President Barack Obama slammed Republicans in his State of the Union address for dodging the issue.

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But Republicans made an eleventh-hour change in strategy on two Democratic attempts to divide them with Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, their most vocal denier of humans effect on the climate, joining a leading liberal in a symbolic vote on whether global warming is real and not a hoax.

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Republicans outfox Democrats on climate votes

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