The Export-Import Bank’s charter will now officially expire June 30, but the battle is far from over.
Thursday was the final day on the legislative calendar before the deadline, and no vote will be taken on it.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said the lapse of the charter represents “a small step toward renewing a competitive free-market economy.”
{mosads}Hensarling, who has emerged as the top critic of the bank, said the lapse will help in “arresting the rise of the progressive welfare state and the cronyism connected to it.”
Most expect the bank to get reauthorized in July by attaching a provision to another legislative vehicle, such as a transportation funding bill.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Hensarling’s panel, said Republicans “have chosen once again to govern by crisis, leaving town without taking a single step to prevent the Export-Import Bank from shutting down.”
“While I remain hopeful that the Bank’s closure will ultimately be brief, the reckless behavior by Republican leadership has left billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. exports, and the jobs these projects support, hanging in the balance,” Waters said.
Hensarling said that “there’s no doubt some U.S. companies receive a benefit from Ex-Im.”
“But there’s also no doubt Ex-Im hurts other companies and their workers,” Hensarling said. “In fact, more are hurt than helped, and nearly 99 percent of all U.S. exports are financed without Ex-Im. Where is the fairness in giving Washington politicians and bureaucrats the power to pick who gets helped and who gets hurt?”
Hensarling and outside Tea Party groups, as well as top-tier Republican presidential candidates, have united in opposing the bank.
However, it’s become a political wedge issue for moderate Republicans. The business community has vehemently argued the bank’s financing sustains small-business jobs through the supply chain.