The Senate Banking Committee has rejected President Trump’s pick to run the Export-Import Bank. Two Republicans broke ranks to join Democrats in blocking the appointment of former U.S. Representative Scott Garrett, Trump’s fifth nominee to fail to clear the Senate.
The Export-Import Bank uses tax dollars to guarantee loans to foreign companies so they can buy American products. Major manufacturers say this keeps jobs in the U.S., but many Republicans think the bank risks tax dollars to subsidize corporations.
Garrett was one such Republican. His nomination was seen as a death sentence to the bank.
William Bucknam, chief counsel for MWI, a major U.S. exporter, says, “He was basically an enemy of the bank and wanted to kill it. And in fact voted to do that on several occasions.”
The White House has not yet said who or if another nominee would be named. This stalemate has kept the Export-Import Bank almost nonfunctioning for the last two years.
