By a vote of 13 to 10, the Senate Banking Committee today rejected the nomination of former Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J) to lead the Export-Import Bank. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined Democrats in opposing the confirmation of Garrett, who has been a vocal critic of the bank in the past.
The committee approved four other nominees to serve on the Ex-Im Bank’s board, including Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), Kimberly Reed, Judith Pryor and Claudia Slacik. While the nominees were confirmed with bipartisan support by the committee, their nominations could face challenges before the full Senate in the weeks ahead; Sens. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) have previously said they would work to block the nominations from moving forward if Garrett was not confirmed.