Ex-Im Bank nominees

President Donald Trump sent names for U.S. Export-Import Bank president and board member to Congress.    President Donald Trump formerly nominated Scott Garrett, a former Republican congressman from New Jersey, this week to serve as president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
   Fred P. Hochberg resigned as Ex-Im Bank president on Jan. 20, the end of the Obama administration.
   During his years in Congress, from 2003-2015, he became one of the nine founding members of the House Freedom Caucus and a critic of the bank. The House Freedom Caucus called for the bank’s demise, referring to it as an example of “crony capitalism.”
   Trump also nominated Spencer Bachus III of Alabama, who was a member of Congress from 1993 to 2015 and held the post of House Finance Services Committee chairman, to serve on the Ex-Im Bank’s board.
   Exporters that rely on U.S. Export-Import Bank financing to secure large international deals are frustrated that the bank’s board currently cannot approve transactions of more than $10 million without a quorum.
   The bank requires three of its five board members to approve large financing packages. However, the board currently has only one seat filled and requires the president and third bank board director’s positions to be filled.
   Many large industry groups back the Ex-Im Bank’s role in financing export transactions, including the Aerospace Industries Association, American Chemistry Council, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, National Association of Manufacturers, National Foreign Trade Council, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
   The beleaguered bank was closed during the summer of 2015 while a group of Republican lawmakers opposed the reauthorization of its charter. Ex-Im Bank supporters in Congress managed to reauthorize its charter on Dec. 3, 2015, as part of a long-term transportation bill. The bill approved long-term reauthorization from Congress that will remain in effect through Sept. 30, 2019.