White House under pressure to drop Export-Import Bank nominee

(Politico, Washington, 17 July 2017) President Donald Trump is standing behind former Rep. Scott Garrett, his choice to head the Export-Import Bank, amid escalating pressure from business groups to pull the plug on the nomination. His record has driven businesses that rely on the agency to try to stop his nomination, even though they also want the Senate to confirm nominees who would fill out its board. During his career in Congress, Garrett was one of the most outspoken critics of the bank. In 2015, he said the agency “embodies the corruption of the free enterprise system.”  The bank has been unable to approve deals worth more than $10 million because of a lack of a quorum. Three Democratic Senators have argued that “If confirmed as chairman of the board, Mr. Garrett would have wide latitude to control the board’s agenda and substitute his personal views for the statutory mission of the bank, destroying it from within after failing in his efforts to persuade his colleagues to legislate its demise”. Trumps new communications officer Anthony Scaramucci was a senior vice-president and chief strategy officer at the Export-Import Bank.