Despite its four-year renewal, the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. is still facing some issues, namely the absence of the required three-board-member quorum to approve insurance, loans or guarantees above $10 million.
The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. is set to be renewed for more than four years as part of the long-term highway bill reported out by conferees on Dec. 1.
The House is expected to take up a six-year highway bill that includes the Ex-Im Bank renewal language, despite plans from several Republicans to offer poison-pill amendments during the process.
Ex-Im Bank is one step closer to being reauthorized, after Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) filed a discharge petition--the first successful one of its kind in nearly a decade--to force a floor vote in the House on legislation to renew Ex-Im. The move to save Ex-Im represents the first successful discharge petition in nearly a decade, as it is a rare legislative procedural maneuver that bypasses the usual process of moving legislation through a committee to the House floor. Last week, approximately 42 Republicans joined nearly every Democrats to reach the necessary signatures needed to force a vote—expected on Oct. 26—to renew Ex-Im’s charter. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, became the 218th signature on the Ex-Im discharge petition, setting the bill up for a full House vote likely later this month.
Among Congress' long list of fall priorities, is reauthorization of Ex-Im Bank which opponents, despite a clear majority of support in the House and Senate, have been able to prevent moving forward since June of this year.
Following Congress' failure to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank in June, supporters in the Senate are aiming for inclusion of an amendment to the highway funding bill that would reauthorize the Bank - despite urging from House leadership not to do so.
While Congress failed to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. prior to its charter expiring at the end of June, a group of bipartisan Senators are hoping to do so by attaching it to “must-pass legislation," the Highway Trust Fund.
With only a few days left before the August Congressional recess, it is looking more likely that the fate of the reauthorization of Export-Import Bank will not be determined until the 11th hour in September.
With August recess looming, Congress still has not decided on an action plan to deal with the reauthorization of Ex-Im Bank, which is set to expire Sept. 30 and has become a political lightening rod in recent weeks.
With the expiration of the current charter authorizing Ex-Im Bank just around the corner, a flurry of activity has taken place recently, including the confirmation of Wanda Felton and Democrats' focus on the reauthorization process.
