House Votes to Renew Export-Import Bank Charter Over GOP Opposition

November 18, 2019 by Dan McCue
House Votes to Renew Export-Import Bank Charter Over GOP Opposition
Export-Import Bank of the United States. (Photo by Dan McCue)

WASHINGTON – The House voted on Friday to renew the charter of the Export-Import Bank, the U.S. agency that provides loans and other help to foreign buyers of U.S. exports, despite opposition from Republican lawmakers.

Despite the bank having historically enjoyed strong bipartisan support, only 13 Republican House members joined Democrats in endorsing the measure.

The most recent authorization of the bank expired at the end of September with the close of the government’s fiscal year, but was temporarily renewed via a stopgap spending bill through Dec. 20.

Shortly before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate would not pass the House bill, preferring to maintain funding for the bank through a larger government spending bill.

The White House has also said that should the Senate take up the measure, it would be vetoed when it reached the president’s desk.

The measure passed in the House, H.R. 4863, would reauthorize the bank for ten years, increases its lending authority to $175 billion, and create procedures to avoid a lapse in the Board’s quorum.

It includes new provisions to extend more financing to small businesses, provisions to assist minority- and women-owned businesses, and pro-environmental provisions to support renewable energy exports.

Supporters of the bank, including most Democrats and the GOP’s establishment wing, said foreign governments unfairly subsidize domestic companies and that the bank helps level the playing field.

Among those who endorsed the measure was the New Democrat Coalition. Coalition members serve as a key block in the House Financial Services Committee, and as part of that panel, coalition member Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., played a key role in ensuring the bank’s reauthorization had both business and labor support.

Heck said in a statement that he considered reauthorizing the bank to be one of his top priorities since he arrived in Congress in 2013.

“Not only will this reauthorization bill help small businesses compete in global markets, but it will enable the U.S. to continue to be a country that is home to the most advanced manufacturing in the world,” he said.

In the same statement, New Democrat Coalition Chair Derek Kilmer said the bank is “an essential tool in the trade toolbox that helps enable American-made products to be sold around the world and supports the growth of our local jobs.”

A 2015 measure reauthorizing the bank won a sweeping bipartisan vote in a GOP-controlled Congress after establishment Republicans prevailed over GOP tea party forces.

However, the bank effectively languished without a quorum until this spring when the Senate confirmed a slate of nominees that allowed the bank to process larger transactions.

Among the changes sought by Republicans were provisions to ban the bank from dealing with state-owned enterprises in China and Russia and increased focus on helping small businesses benefit from the bank’s activities.

A+
a-
  • Congress
  • Export-Import Bank
  • trade
  • U.S. House
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Trade

    US Manufacturers Stuck In a Rut Despite Subsidies From Biden and Protection From Trump

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and Republicans don’t agree on much, but they share a conviction that the government should help... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and Republicans don’t agree on much, but they share a conviction that the government should help American manufacturers, one way or another. Democratic President Joe Biden handed out subsidies to chipmakers and electric vehicle manufacturers. Republican President Donald Trump is building a... Read More

    July 11, 2025
    by Tom Ramstack
    Brazilian President Says He Will Match Trump’s Highest Tariffs

    WASHINGTON — Brazil’s president is pledging that he will not back down from a trade war with the United States... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Brazil’s president is pledging that he will not back down from a trade war with the United States as the deadline approaches to reach a deal on tariffs. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this week he would match President Donald Trump’s threat... Read More

    Trump's Tariffs May Cast a Pall Over Rubio's First Official Trip to Asia

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Sweeping tariffs set to be imposed by President Donald Trump next month may cast a pall over his top diplomat’s first... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Sweeping tariffs set to be imposed by President Donald Trump next month may cast a pall over his top diplomat’s first official trip to Asia this week — just as the U.S. seeks to boost relations with Indo-Pacific nations to counter China’s growing influence in the region.... Read More

    Analysis Shows Trump's Tariffs Would Cost US Employers $82.3B

    WASHINGTON (AP) — An analysis finds that a critical group of U.S. employers would face a direct cost of $82.3... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — An analysis finds that a critical group of U.S. employers would face a direct cost of $82.3 billion from President Donald Trump’s current tariff plans, a sum that could be potentially managed through price hikes, layoffs, hiring freezes or lower profit margins. The analysis... Read More

    Trump Hails Favorable Federal Appeals Court Ruling on His Sweeping Tariff Policy as a 'Great' Win

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed a favorable decision by a federal appeals court over his sweeping tariff policy as a... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed a favorable decision by a federal appeals court over his sweeping tariff policy as a “great” win for the United States. Trump said on his social media site that the court’s decision Tuesday night to let the government keep collecting his sweeping... Read More

    June 5, 2025
    by Tom Ramstack
    Trump Negotiates With China on Trade While Other Officials Warn of War

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Thursday amid tense relations over trade... Read More

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Thursday amid tense relations over trade and concerns about war in Taiwan. Tensions over trade escalated after Trump declared high tariffs on countries worldwide shortly after being inaugurated in January. Some of... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top