House Republicans joined forces with more than 100 of their Democratic colleagues today in supporting a measure to force a vote on reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank.
Bypassing the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn., along with fellow Republican Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Chris Collins of New York, filed a discharge petition that would fast-track legislation reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank for five years. The petition reached the 218 signatures needed to force a vote on reauthorization of Ex-Im this afternoon.
“This Republican-led petition is a procedure to stand up to Washington’s broken system that is killing thousands of American jobs and jeopardizing thousands more. Our constituents expect us to fight for them and get the job done, but Congress has failed to even hold a vote to reform and reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank,” Fincher, Kinzinger, and Collins said in a joint statement today.
“We refuse to look any more hardworking Americans in the eye and say, ‘you lost your job because Congress refused to hold a vote.’ This cannot wait any longer. If we do not get this done for the American people, the only thing our country will be exporting is jobs,” they continued.
Discharge petitions are rarely successful. The last time one was executed successfully was in 2002, which fast-tracked campaign finance reform championed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.
The petition allows for legislation to bypass the House committee with jurisdiction over the bill and be brought directly to the floor for a vote. The House Financial Services Committee, chaired by Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, oversees Ex-Im, which provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies for the purchase of U.S. products.
The process for forcing a vote on legislation through a discharge petition is often a lengthy one, as members must first secure 218 signatures—a majority of the House—on the petition and then wait seven legislative days before the resolution is discharged and considered on the House floor. Additionally, discharge petitions can be considered by the House only on the second or fourth Monday of the month.
Fincher’s bill reauthorizing the bank and his discharge petition likely won’t be voted on until October 26, as members are returning to their districts for a week-long recess next week.
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In reaching 218 votes, Democrats signaled that they have the votes needed to pass the bill reauthorizing the bank in the House. However, there’s skepticism that it will be taken up by the Senate.
A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told The Daily Signal he wouldn’t bring a standalone Ex-Im bill to the floor of the upper chamber.
Fincher, a member of the Financial Services Committee, has been one of the bank’s biggest supporters, and his move to bypass Hensarling and the committee puts him at odds with his Republican colleague.
In a statement, Hensarling criticized efforts to force a vote on Ex-Im’s reauthorization and said the majority of the Republicans on the Financial Services Committee oppose bringing the bank back to life. Historically, Hensarling said, past chairs of the committee have not advanced bills that lack support from the majority of the majority party—Republicans, in this case.
The Financial Services chairman has led the charge against Ex-Im’s reauthorization and was ultimately victorious, as the bank’s charter expired June 30. Hensarling, along with the agency’s opponents, believe it’s an engine of corporate welfare and cronyism.
But supports like Fincher argue that Ex-Im creates jobs in the U.S.
“I hope all Republicans, regardless of their stand on this one issue, will recognize that signing a discharge petition sets a very serious, very dangerous precedent for our Republican majority that goes far beyond Ex-Im,” Hensarling said.
More than 40 Republicans signed on to the discharge petition, with Democrats—led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland—providing the bulk of support.
Hensarling, in his statement, criticized Republicans’ efforts to use a discharge petition to reauthorize the bank and said it could have far-reaching consequences beyond Ex-Im.
“Signing a discharge petition puts the minority in charge and effectively makes Nancy Pelosi the speaker of the House,” he continued. “At a time when our Republican conference is divided, this will divide it even further. Signing a discharge petition—regardless of the issue—gives the Democrats control over our agenda. That’s why they’re so eager to sign it.”
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In the weeks before Ex-Im’s charter expired at the end of June, both Republicans and Democrats called on House Speaker John Boehner to force a vote on legislation reauthorizing the 81-year-old agency.
Boehner, though, maintained that legislation would be taken up only through regular order.
Earlier this week, conservatives speaking at the monthly Capitol Hill gathering Conversations with Conservatives said that though they oppose Ex-Im, they respect the rules that govern the House.
“We think it’s corporate welfare. We think it’s the worst. Big corporations cozying up to big government, getting special deals at the expense of middle-class taxpayers. We don’t like it. We don’t want it to be reauthorized. We don’t want it to be resurrected, right? We like it dead,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said. “But right now there’s a discharge petition working its way in the House. And you know what? I don’t like it, but that’s the rules, and if people want to use that as a way to get their bill done, they have that right.”
Jordan, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, vehemently opposes Ex-Im. Several months ago, his group of more than 40 conservatives came out against its reauthorization.
Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., agreed.
“The thing that unites a lot of the conservative members with the members who support the Ex-Im Bank, because we don’t support the Export-Import Bank, is that we think regular order should be followed,” he said. “So if the bill can’t get through committee, then it can’t get through committee and shouldn’t be brought to the floor through committee, and it shouldn’t be discharged through leadership on their own.
“But the House rules also provide for discharge petitions, and if enough members want to put together a discharge petition, that’s their business. They’re abiding by the House rules.”