Senate Passage of Ex-Im Bank Amendment a Good First Step — AIA

The fight began Friday morning when Sen.

Cruz reiterated his previous contention that McConnell had followed the same agenda Reid would have as majority leader, had Democrats retained control of the Senate in the November elections.

From a purely political perspective, it’s not a bad move. Paul was seeking to round up support for a petition that would allow him to end-run McConnell with an amendment, but he suggested Sunday he would pursue separate legislation. And more Republican infighting broke out Monday, as an email surfaced from an aide to Sen. It’s McConnell’s job to keep the Senate machinery operating – but it’s all too easy for a loner like Cruz to cast all compromise as apostasy and weakness.

The U.S. bank’s charter expired on June 30, and business groups worry that American companies will be less competitive globally unless Congress revives the institution. He said McConnell has acknowledged that there are “limits” to what can be done under reconciliation. Cruz is running for president. I immediately announced my intention to pursue that vote on the floor, consistent with Senate Rule XXII.

“I suspect you would find other voices joining that of the junior senator”, Cornyn said. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) of Cruz’s comments.

“Several lawmakers insisted that the conflict between conservatives and party leaders was not evidence of a splintering caucus, and they predicted they will unify for the fiscal battles that loom on the legislative calendar”.

The Sunday amendment vote on the Ex-Im Bank was passed 67-26, and according to the Washington Post, is likely to be included on the highway bill on Monday. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has upped the stakes in his war on GOP brass by accusing Sen. Afterward, Cruz decamped to just beyond the Senate Floor to decry not being able to do any of the things he was trying to do during the Sunday session. But McConnell claimed last week he had no choice to allow a vote on Ex-Im because supporters were holding hostage other amendments to the highway bill.

For each of the troublemaking trio, the calculations are different.

McCarthy said there was simply not enough time before the recess to consider the complex Senate bill, which authorizes $350 billion in spending over six years, but contains actual funding for only about three years’ worth of projects. His only public comment on the matter was a statement last week questioning ‘”that such aggressive tactics were used to resurrect” the export credit agency.

Conservatives say the Export-Import Bank amounts to corporate welfare, pointing out that the companies that benefit include major corporations like Boeing, Caterpillar and GE. The trust between conservatives and the Republican Party leadership will be broken.

House Republican leaders say their approach would buy them time to try to come up with a tax reform deal coveted by the White House and some leaders in both parties, and use that to pay for an even longer-term highway bill. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).

McCarthy did not sound open to any such suggestion, flatly telling reporters, “We are set to depart on Thursday”. Seeking to reinvigorate his presidential campaign, Paul has pushed hard on defunding Planned Parenthood, a cause celebre on the right. James Inhofe, R-Okla. “If you’re not, you can’t do anything”, Isakson said.

Yet Cruz has clearly made a different calculation. No one in the Senate spoke out to defend Cruz. “It’s an overall strategy that the GOP leadership is employing”.