House Republicans are going on offense in the fight over the expiration of the Export-Import Bank, seeking to preempt the Senate with quick passage of a short-term highway bill.
The House highway bill, which is expected to get a vote on Wednesday, includes bipartisan offsets intended to assuage Democrats, who want to see the bank’s charter reauthorized and a longer extension of infrastructure projects.
{mosads}With the Senate still grasping about for its own highway bill ahead of a July 31 deadline, House Republicans said they decided it was time to put down their own markers on infrastructure and the Ex-Im Bank.
“We think the sooner we find a bipartisan solution that works for a short-term extension, the better,” said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas).
Still, House Republicans acknowledge they face plenty of obstacles in making sure Ex-Im stays on the scrap heap following the expiration of the embattled bank’s charter at the end of June.
Some in the GOP conference who support Ex-Im say they’re not willing to bring down a highway bill with a fight over the bank’s charter.
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, maintain they want to extend highway funding until at least past the 2016 elections. But they made clear Tuesday they haven’t zeroed in on how long of an extension to seek — or how to pay for it.
Supporters and opponents of Ex-Im believe the Senate has the 60 votes necessary to attach an Ex-Im reauthorization to a highway bill, potentially with some reforms. House Democrats, banking that the Senate will do just that, are largely expected to back the short-term highway bill when it hits the floor this week.
“I suspect they will put Ex-Im on, and it will come to the House,” said Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.), who supports reviving the bank with some reforms. “And then members will have to decide whether they support the package or not.”
Conservatives — including House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) — have made killing Ex-Im one of their top priorities this year.
While the business community is lobbying in favor of the bank, which finances international projects, conservative Republicans and Tea Party-aligned groups are deriding Ex-Im as an example of “crony capitalism” that mainly helps corporate giants such as Boeing.
“Under no circumstances should Congress reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. It’s a classic manifestation of corporate welfare, and we need to stand together and stop it,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), a GOP presidential candidate who vowed to oppose any bill reviving the bank.
House GOP leaders have said that Hensarling will be given the opportunity to strip out an Ex-Im reauthorization if the Senate sends one over. Heritage Action, a conservative group opposing Ex-Im, has estimated that between 90 and 100 House Republicans are against reauthorizing the bank.
But supporters say they don’t believe House conservatives have the votes to end the bank for good.
“The political process is a bit like making sausage and sometimes it’s not any fun,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a prominent supporter of the bank. “But I’m confident we get this done.”
House and Senate leaders are moving early to try to lock up a highway deal, the only major deadline that Congress faces before its August recess, but face plenty of their own roadblocks.
To help move the process along, Ryan and House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) used roughly $5 billion in tax compliance measures and a $3 billion extension of Transportation Security Administration fees to pay for their highway bill.
Ryan has said the short-term extension would allow lawmakers to work on a revamp of the U.S.’s international tax structure that would pay for a long-term highway bill. Both the White House and Senate Democrats’ leader-in-waiting, Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) have said they’re at least open to pursuing that sort of idea as well.
The House bill includes more stringent rules for the estate tax and the mortgage interest deduction. Just last year, House Republicans rejected using those sorts of proposals for a highway bill, saying they didn’t want to give more power to the embattled IRS.
On Tuesday, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) hinted that Democrats could get behind that sort of package, even as he criticized the GOP for not finding a long-term solution.
“I don’t think there are any Democrats that want to see the highway programcome to an end,” Hoyer said, before adding: “At some point in time we’re not going to be voting for these short-term extensions.”
On the other side of the Capitol, top Republicans like Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have said they have serious reservations about the House plan.
But while the Senate is believed to have the votes to bring back the Ex-Im Bank, skeptics in both chambers doubt Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will be able to find the offsets needed to push the Highway Trust Fund past November 2016.
McConnell told reporters on Tuesday that “there’s bipartisan enthusiasm for a multi-year highway bill” and that he’s started negotiating with Democrats over how to pull that off.
“We’re hoping to be able to come together behind some way to get a multi-year highway bill,” McConnell said. “I’m fairly optimistic that we can do that.”
Senate Democrats themselves aren’t quite united on highways. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has called out Republicans for likely falling short of a full six-year bill this month, even as Schumer shows an interest in an extension of just a few months.
Pointing to Reid’s comments, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said Tuesday that Democrats would at least have to hear McConnell out “after they’ve made it very clear they want a multi-year bill.”
But Thune, a member of the GOP leadership, also conceded there was a chance an extension of a few months might be the best the Senate can do, despite its best
efforts.
“If we couldn’t get to an agreement here, to move what we’re talking about,” he said, “then the House proposal might be the fallback solution, might make some sense.”