Reading Between the Lines: GOP Leader Heads Toward Ex-Im Shutdown

ICYMI, yesterday House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal about a number of issues, including reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.  Unfortunately, his discussion of the Bank was littered with inaccuracies, so we thought we’d be helpful and offer an annotated version (with important things called “facts”) here:

Rep. McCarthy: I voted for Ex-Im last time, mainly because it was short term, and there were going to be reforms. I’ve not seen the reforms.1

  1. The Export-Import Bank has implemented every reform included in the 2012 reauthorization bill that Congress passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support. See the complete list here.

Rep. McCarthy: They tell me Ex-Im is profitable. If it’s profitable, then why doesn’t somebody else fill the void?2

2. Let’s ask the “somebody else”: “We represent banks of all sizes and we emphasize that the private sector cannot fill the void in export financing for US companies if Ex-Im Bank were to close its doors.”  Read the entire letter from the financial services industry here. And, as a reminder, the Export-Import Bank is in fact profitable – it returned $7 billion to the Treasury over the past two decades.

Rep. McCarthy: Ex-Im, if nothing happens, it expires. I do not believe something’s going to happen by June 30.3

3. So you’re shutting down the Export-Import Bank and putting thousands of jobs at risk?

Rep. McCarthy: I think the leadership of Ex-Im would have been smart to realize they had a problem. They would have solved their problem early. It’s better to solve your own problems than to think that you’re going to let the House and Senate solve your problem for you.4

4. It’s Congress’s job to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank – that’s not something the leadership of the Bank can do. We’ve had months to address this issue and work on a bipartisan basis to pass a long-term reauthorization. Let’s call a spade a spade: Republicans knew for a long time that this was coming, but chose to do nothing because they want to shut it down.  

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