Twenty-two conservative House members have declared their opposition to granting President Barack Obama the trade promotion authority that would grant the administration power to negotiate trade agreements with the understanding that they would get an up or down vote without amendment in Congress, the Financial Times Online reported today.

The legislators, led by Reps. Walter Jones, R-N.C., and Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., said they refused to “cede our constitutional authority to the executive branch.”

• Letter to Obama on trade promotion authority