House Rejects Senate Highway Plan, Vows to Pass Short-Term Bill Without Saving Export-Import Bank

In a blunt rejection of the Senate’s attempt to enact a longer-term fix for the nation’s roads, rails and bridges, the House of Representatives plans to pass a patch extending the Highway Trust Fund for three months.

The House then plans to quickly leave town for the month-long August recess, signaling that it has no interest in considering the Senate plan.

The Senate advanced a six-year highway funding bill last night that included an amendment to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. The upper chamber could move for final passage of the legislation Wednesday, but it’s dead on arrival in the House of Representatives.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said yesterday he has no intention of bring the Senate’s version of the legislation before the lower chamber.

Instead, House Speaker John Boehner told Republican members today the House will vote on a three-month extension of the Highway Trust Fund this week. Members are set to head home Thursday for August recess, and their departure will force the Senate to pass the short-term patch.

“This is a good path forward, and we should be able to do our work,” Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Penn., said. “It will give us enough time for our committee to do our work, get something on the board and go to conference.”

The House’s three-month highway funding bill would give Congress until Oct. 29 to come to a long-term agreement on the Highway Trust Fund’s financial future.

“I want a long-term highway bill that’s fully paid for. That’s been the goal all year,” Boehner told reporters this morning. “It’s time to get it across the finish line.”

Not only would a short-term extension give members of Congress time to craft a longer-term deal, but it would also leave Ex-Im’s charter expired through at least September, as the legislation wouldn’t include a measure to revive the highly contested agency.

Ex-Im provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies for the purchase of U.S. products. Its charter expired June 30, but Democrats and some Republicans—with the support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell—tried to revive the agency through an amendment to the Senate highway bill.

Conservatives in both chambers have been pushing for Ex-Im’s expiration for more than a year, and debate over the agency intensified over the last few months.

Opponents of the bank, including McCarthy, argue that Ex-Im serves as an engine of corporate welfare and cronyism. Supporters say it creates jobs in the U.S. and helps small businesses break into global markets.

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