This ex-congressman may be Trump's weirdest nomination to date
BY TORY NEWMYER
with Paulina Firozi
Add this to the growing list of White House headaches: President Trump’s pick to lead the Export-Import Bank is hanging by a fraying thread in the Senate.
The nominee — former Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) — faces a buzz saw of bipartisan resistance thanks to his outspoken efforts while in Congress to dismantle the bank he now seeks to lead. Garrett is making the rounds among senators this week, hoping to tread a narrow path to confirmation by making assurances he’ll help the institution get back up and running while pursuing reforms demanded by conservatives.
By all accounts, it’s been a bumpy performance. Garrett opened a meeting with a number of Senate Democrats on Tuesday by volunteering that he was surprised to have been nominated. Sources familiar with the meeting said it went downhill from there, with the New Jersey Republican declining to say whether if confirmed, he’d advocate for the bank’s reauthorization (it's long been a punching bag of hardline conservatives). By the end of the roughly 45-minute huddle, senators were directing their questions to Garrett’s administration minder, White House legislative affairs chief Marc Short, since he seemed better informed on issues facing the bank, sources briefed on it said. The meeting, Democratic participants said in a joint statement afterward, was “bizarre.”
washington post.com
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