The Senate Banking Committee rejected Scott Garrett's nomination to be chairman of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an institution the former congressman earlier called “corporate welfare” and tried to shut down.
In the 10-13 vote Tuesday, Republican Sens. Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Tim Scott of South Carolina joined all of the committee's Democrats in opposition. Rounds said Garrett's past efforts to end the institution can't be overlooked at a time when it needs a solid commitment to improvements.
“He's a principled man who simply believes in the abolishment of the bank,” Rounds said.
Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs, said in a statement after the vote, “We are disappointed that the Senate Banking Committee missed this opportunity to get the Export-Import Bank fully functioning again. We will continue to work with the committee on a path forward.”
Committee Chairman Mike Crapo of Idaho had urged panel members to recommend Senate confirmation, saying Garrett was “committed that Ex-Im will remain fully functional” and was “well-poised” to improve the agency. The committee recommended confirmation of five other Ex-Im nominees, and Crapo forwarded them to the Senate floor.
The committee's top Democrat, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, said that if President Donald Trump “is serious about a functioning bank, he didn't show it by nominating Mr. Garrett.”
Trump's nomination of Garrett in April became one of the president's more controversial choices. Created during the Great Depression, the Ex-Im Bank helps foreign companies buy U.S. products when private banks won't provide financing. Some of its biggest beneficiaries have been manufacturing and aerospace companies such as Boeing Co. and General Electric Co., as well as big banks, like JPMorgan Chase & Co., that help finance deals.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement that Trump should “quickly nominate a chair that will actually fulfill the mission of the Ex-Im Bank.” He said the other nominees should be quickly confirmed.
During years of controversy over the export credit agency's future, some Republicans including Garrett sought to close its operations completely. Congress reauthorized the bank in 2015, but since then it has lacked the quorum it needs to provide loan guarantees of more than $10 million.
The five other Ex-Im nominations that moved forward are: Kimberly Reed to be the first vice president of the bank; former GOP Representative Spencer Bachus, Judith Pryor, and Claudia Slacik to be board members; and Mark Greenblatt to be inspector general.
|Contentious Hearing
Garrett had a contentious confirmation hearing before the banking panel in November. He pledged to continue bank operations if confirmed, citing new developments including Trump's election and the introduction of a new agenda for the institution. Democratic senators including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts questioned his avowed conversion from relentless critic seeking a shutdown of the bank to advocate of efforts to reauthorize it.
A House Republican member from New Jersey for 14 years until his defeat in 2016, Garrett was a founding member of the Tea Party-aligned Freedom Caucus and twice voted against legislation reauthorizing the bank. During one debate in 2015, he called it “taxpayer-funded welfare for mega-corporations” and said the bank “embodies the corruption of the free enterprise system.”
His negative view of the Ex-Im Bank is shared by at least two senators on the banking panel, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Richard Shelby of Alabama. On the other side are traditional pro-business Republicans and the industries that support them. Rounds, Scott, and GOP panel member Thom Tillis of North Carolina have major manufacturing presences in their states and have generally supported keeping the Ex-Im Bank in business.
Some congressional Republicans dismiss the bank as “crony capitalism” because they say companies like Boeing and GE don't need government support.
In 2014, the bank's last fully operational year, it backed $27.5 billion in exports and sent $674 million in profits to the U.S. Treasury.
Garrett's nomination was opposed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, both of which sent the panel scathing letters about the former House lawmaker.
After the committee vote, NAM President Jay Timmons said in a statement that the bank “is too important for manufacturers and our economy to be led by someone who has consistently tried to destroy it.”
From: Bloomberg
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