House majority leader: Let Ex-Im expire

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reiterated Tuesday that he thinks the Export-Import Bank should be allowed to expire in two months, saying he hasn’t changed his position from last summer.

“I think that is a view that I have, yes, and I said it hasn’t changed,” the No. 2 House Republican told reporters when asked if he still is opposed to reauthorizing the bank’s charter, which runs out at the end of June.

Ex-Im’s chairman and president, Fred Hochberg has defended the 80-year-old institution, saying American jobs depend on its reauthorization.

{mosads}But conservatives in Congress have vowed to put the bank out of business. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), whose panel has jurisdiction over Ex-Im, argued that the federal government should not be guaranteeing loans to wealthy corporations. Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) is also opposed to renewing the bank.

McCarthy, who controls the House floor schedule, said he supports the “regular order” process through which a bill goes through committee, emphasizing that he would not circumvent Hensarling’s panel and bring a reauthorization bill directly to the floor.

If the bank expires in June, it would still fulfill loans it’s already provided, McCarthy said. But he noted that the bank would stop offering new loans.

“The private sector fills that void,” he said.