Unusual House move (Discharge Petition) may foil Freedom Caucus on the Export-Import Bank

[pampango]

The Republican Leadership Crisis May Have Just Saved The Export-Import Bank

Democrats and centrist Republicans pulled together to force a House vote.

A coalition of 218 Democrats and centrist Republicans reached critical mass on Friday to file a discharge petition for legislation reauthorizing the bank. A discharge petition brings a bill out of committee and to a vote on the House floor without without requiring committee approval. Under House rules, the bill is guaranteed to receive a floor vote soon, and with 218 backers, it already has enough support to pass.

Democrats were thrilled with what they pulled off Friday. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, said she knew that committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) wanted to kill the Ex-Im Bank. But Democrats were able to get around him.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he won't take up a standalone Ex-Im bill, and his spokesman Don Stewart said Friday that the latest bill isn't going anywhere. "The Senate is not going to spend a week on a bill that the leader doesn't support," Stewart said.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) pledged to work on persuading McConnell to give the bill a vote. The measure had a lot of support when the Senate last voted on it; 64 senators voted to attach it to the highway legislation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/export-import-bank-house-vote_56180228e4b0e66ad4c7c94c?utm_hp_ref=politics

What happened? Most likely it's because the House Freedom Caucus radicals who opposed it overreached.

The one issue on which the House Freedom Caucus differs from much of the party is on the Export-Import Bank. On its list of demands to speaker candidates, the caucus includes opposition to the bank's existence.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-09/blame-house-radicals-for-return-of-export-import-bank

[riversedge]

1. Come on Turtle face--the ball is in YOUR court.