Date set to vote on renewing the Ex-Im Bank

House members who want to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank have enough commitments of support to force a floor vote, one supporter said Friday. The bank’s authorization expired June 30 after conservative Republicans kept it from receiving a vote in committee.

The push was led by Tennessee GOP Rep. Steve Fincher and a bloc of pro-business Republicans.

More than 40 Republicans have signed a so-called discharge petition, a little-used technique used to force a vote on an issue against the wishes of party leadership.

By doing so, they defied a small group of conservatives led by Republican Jim Jordan of Urbana who have staunchly opposed renewing the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which provides credit to foreign companies buying American products. Dave Reichert and Dan Newhouse – signed the discharge petition, along with every Democratic member from the state. “Our constituents expect us to fight for them and get the job done, but Congress has failed to even hold a vote to reform and reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank”, Fincher, Kinzinger and Collins said in a joint statement today. The petition requires the bill to be placed on the House floor, where it has the votes to pass. Since then, Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE has announced plans to shift hundreds of U.S.jobs to other countries, and directly tied the decision to the lapse of Ex-Im.

“At a time when our Republican conference is divided, this will divide it further”, said Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Backers said they expected it would gain the required 218 signatures.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank competes against 59 other nations that have export finance agencies, according to the National Association of Manufacturers.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Republican, California)-who had supported the bank in the past but came out against it previous year after he was elected to his current position-on Thursday abruptly withdrew from the race to replace House Speaker John Boehner (Republican, Ohio).

His surprise withdrawal has thrown the Republican party into chaos just as the 2016 presidential election season is gets underway and the threat of a government shutdown looms if the two parties can’t agree on a budget or an increase in the federal debt ceiling. Under normal House procedure, Ex-Im reauthorization would have to first clear the Financial Services Committee before coming up for a vote in the full chamber, but Hensarling has not allowed that to happen.

A majority of Republicans oppose reauthorization of the bank, calling it a form of corporate welfare.

“The Senate is not going to spend a week on a bill that the leader doesn’t support”, said McConnell’s spokesman, Don Stewart, when asked about the petition on Friday.

Critics of the bank say it primarily benefits a handful of large corporations, exposes taxpayers to unnecessary risks and amounts to picking winners and losers.