Last week there was an unusual breakdown in decorum in the U.S. Senate, when Texas Senator, and Presidential candidate, Ted Cruz took to the Senate floor and announced that Senate Republican leader, Kentucky’s Sen. Mitch McConnell, had lied to him about a deal to allow a reauthorization vote for the Export Import Bank to be attached to the “must-pass” legislation renewing the Highway Trust Fund.
I took particular note of this flair-up as I have been following the Export Import Bank (Exim) for a client. I have been advising that while the bank may expire (as it did on June 30), it would eventually be renewed, most likely in the reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund.
Cruz’s allegations against McConnell confused me, as I wondered how I knew all about this strategy, and somehow Cruz hadn’t heard about it or figured it out. I of course don’t know what McConnell told Cruz, but when McConnell was home in Louisville, I heard him speak and he was clear that he personally opposed the bank, would vote against it, but would allow a vote since a large majority of senators wanted a chance to approve Exim.
To make sure I wasn’t dreaming, I did a Google search using the key words, “Exim Bank Highway Trust Fund.”
On page one of the search was a headline dated May 13, “Exim backers eye transportation bill as reauthorization vehicle,” in The Hill newspaper. On the second page of the search was an article from the May 22 edition of The Atlantic that spelled out the strategy again. In The Atlantic article it stated that Exim supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham had tweeted that McConnell assured him that he’d be able to attach the Ex-Im to the bill replenishing the Highway Trust Fund in July.
On June 10, the Senate took a test vote to make sure that the supporters of reauthorization of Exim had the votes needed to overcome a filibuster and eventually add Exim to a must pass bill such as the Highway Trust Fund, and Exim prevailed on a vote of 65 to 31. In fact when the key vote on Exim occurred on Sunday, July 26, there were 67 votes in support of Exim.
During my 40-year career I was a Congressional aide, lobbyist, and consultant, and learned while it is possible to stop a bill in the Senate, it is nearly impossible when a large bipartisan majority is on the other side. Once a position has 60 votes, and using the liberal amendment process of the Senate, a proposal is nearly impossible to stop. That was the case with Exim. McConnell probably knows the Senate rules as well as anyone, and it is a shame that freshman Cruz didn’t talk to the Leader so he could explain how the Senate works before he called McConnell a liar. Not really the kind of thought process one wants to see in a future president.
Tom Block is a public policy consultant who had a 21-year career with JP Morgan Chase where he served as head of government relations in New York City and created a Washington research product. He also created the bank’s EU Government Relations program and developed a new position as U.S. government policy strategist focusing on how U.S. government policy impacts capital markets. He has an extensive government and banking background, has worked on political campaigns and as a speech writer. He is a family trustee of Bernheim Arboretum in Louisville and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from American University. He and his wife make their home in Kentucky. Contact him at tomblockct@aol.com.