A U.S. magazine says Republicans and Democrats are facing new challenges towards the ratification of pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

According to Inside U.S. Trade on Friday, efforts by Senate leaders of both parties to break the current standoff over the trade deals and extend the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program faced a new hurdle this week after Senator Rob Portman of the Republican Party stressed that he wants the trade deals formally submitted to Congress prior to a vote on the assistance program.

The Democratic Party and the White House intend to first vote on the TAA program and then seek the ratification of the three trade accords.

The Obama administration and Congress initially planned to vote on the ratification bills for the trade accords before Congress’s August recess but such efforts collapsed after the ratification issue became linked with the extension of the TAA program, which helps workers who lose work because of the trade accords find new jobs.