Congress and the Bush administration came together for an unprecedented agreement on U.S. trade policy. Many pundits are applauding the deal as a demonstration of bi-partisanship while others believe it is proof positive of lobbyist influence among the Democrats.

The Washington Post applauds the Bush administration for its flexibility this week. They gave the Dems what they have been wanting for fifteen years: “direct incorporation of enforceable labor and environmental rules into free-trade agreements signed by the United States.” The Post just hopes the Dems will play fair and give the Bush administration the authority to broker $10 billion in new free trade agreements.

The New York Times says that the agreement between Congress and the President “will harness America’s economic power to the cause of expanding labor rights abroad.”

David Sirota thinks the deal stinks. It proves that Pelosi is no populist and that she is willing to push aside the labor friendly members of her party to make lobbyists happy.

The AFL-CIO Blog reserves judgment on the deal. It has its upsides, but AFL-CIO president John Sweeny is skeptical: The bill “fails to adequately address issues related to the outsourcing of U.S. jobs and the ability of foreign corporations to challenge U.S. laws, among others.”

Nina Easton reports in Fortune on what went into brokering the deal and assesses what it means for business.