In policy reversal Trump names new Ex-Im president

(Deutsche Welle, Washington, 15 April 2017) US President Trump has named Scott Garrett, a conservative Republican former lawmaker, to head the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank. Garrett voted to close the official US export credit agency when he was a member of Congress. Trump also named Spencer Bachus, a Republican former congressman from Alabama, to be a member of the Ex-Im board of directors. During last year's presidential election campaign, Trump dismissed the bank as "unnecessary." He alleged in August that "it's sort of a featherbedding for politicians and others, and a few companies." On April 12th, in comments reported by the Wall Street Journal, Trump announced a policy change on Ex-Im, saying: "Actually, it's a very good thing. And it actually makes money, it could make a lot of money." Garrett, a New Jersey Republican, served seven terms in the House of Representatives and voted in 2012 and 2015 against renewing the Ex-Im charter. A founding member of the Freedom Caucus and reported to have made a series of anti-gay remarks, Garrett was defeated in the November elections. Speaking about Ex-Im at a congressional hearing in 2014, Garrett said "when you mix big corporations and taxpayer-backed guarantees, you get a little something that looks an awful like crony capitalism." In a tweet in October 2015, Garrett described the bank as a "corporate welfare program."