Congress is about to decide the fate of an obscure federal agency that has become improbably tangled in presidential politics and Republican Party infighting. A short term six month extension was passed in the House to avoid having it attached to a highway trust fund bill while the Senate attached full funding to its highway transportation bill.
It is expected that the Senate will agree to the House extension then resume negotiations to fully fund the bank. Opponents prevailed last month as congressional inaction caused the Export-Import Bank's charter to expire for the first time in its 81-year history. That means the bank cannot issue new loans or loan guarantees, though it remains open to service outstanding business. But now supporters are pushing to revive the bank by attaching it to highway legislation that will be debated in the Senate this week and must be approved by the end of July. With Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) acknowledging that supporters have the votes to prevail, opponents are in danger of getting rolled. The outcome is less certain in the House, where Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has pledged an open process and opponents are working on their strategy. But having succeeded in turning the bank into a conservative rallying cry, opponents are not going down without a fight. Until recently large bipartisan majorities in both chambers regularly renewed the bank. But after a tea party-infused GOP majority retook the House in 2010, conservatives began seizing on the bank, making a 2012 reauthorization vote a struggle for the first time. This year, with Republicans in control of the Senate and a presidential campaign underway, conservatives have targeted the Export-Import Bank even more assertively. Several circumstances contributed, including opposition from new House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, (R-TX). And the Koch Brothers took on the cause through their allied organizations Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners, pressuring GOP presidential candidates who are jockeying for the Kochs' coveted financial backing to toe the line.