The Senate Banking Committee will not consider the nomination of NCUA board member J. Mark McWatters to the Export-Import Bank board, Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said Tuesday.
As a result, the only way McWatters could be confirmed is for Senate Republican leaders to decide to take the nomination directly to the Senate floor.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ignored a question from CU Times on Capitol Hill Tuesday about how the Senate might proceed.
If McWatters is not confirmed, he would retain his seat on the NCUA board. If he is confirmed, the NCUA board would be left with one member – Chairman Rick Metsger, a Democrat.
In March, Shelby said a decision on whether to move the nomination of McWatters depended on whether the administration nominates a vice chairman of supervision at the Federal Reserve.
However, Shelby said Tuesday that he will not move on the nomination under any circumstances. He said he is fundamentally opposed to the idea of the Export-Import Bank.
He said the Senate passed legislation reauthorizing the bank without his committee's approval, and that it could do the same with the McWatters nomination.
Senate Banking Committee ranking Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio said he has continually pressed Shelby on the nomination, adding that the bank has a large backlog because it cannot approve transactions of more than $10 million because it does not have a sufficient number of members.
"There's a $10 billion backlog that exists because the Senate isn't doing its job," Brown said. "I hear McConnell may be interested in moving on it. I'm not sure that he can do that without someone on his side objecting to it."
When asked about the nomination, Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn of Texas – the chief GOP vote counter – said, "That's above my pay grade. You would have to ask the majority leader that."
About an hour later, a CU Times reporter approached McConnell with the question, to which he did not respond.
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