The controversial Export-Import Bank of the United States has come under fire from conservative Republicans after removing data from a government website that potentially exposed "cronyism" at the institution,
according to The Hill.
Within the past month, bank officials took down information about businesses that were denied financing by the bank, sources told the political news website.
"During a regular quarterly review, it was decided to reformat the way data is presented," a source said, while noting that in the new format bank officials are no longer revealing the names or companies of denied applicants.
But conservative opponents of the Export-Import Bank, created to help U.S. companies fund overseas projects, said that the data helped to indicate how the bank decided which businesses to finance.
Led by House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling, a conservative Texas Republican, critics have said that the bank helped to fund "cronyism" and "corporate welfare."
"Everybody knows Ex-Im picks winners and losers," said a senior Republican aide of a House member, according to The Hill. "Now Ex-Im is making itself even less transparent in order to hide some of the losers."
But the bank’s spokesman Matthew Bevens told The Hill that officials take "very seriously its commitment to transparency and its mission of supporting American businesses as they expand their sales through exports while creating jobs here at home."
Bevens added, "Staff continuously and thoroughly reviews how the data is posted in the interest of transparency and open data, without harming the ability of our customers to export their products, create jobs, and compete fairly in the global marketplace."
Moderate Republicans and Democrats claim that the bank helps U.S. businesses create business overseas, supplying millions of jobs to Americans.
Congress must vote to reauthorize the bank by June 30 or it will close down, according to The Hill.
Tennessee GOP Rep. Stephen Fincher and 57 other House Republican have sponsored a five-year reauthorization bill for the bank, but with a slew of changes to its policies, while House Democrats are working on their own proposal.
"Transparency at the Export Import Bank has long been a concern and must be addressed," said Fincher, while noting that his reauthorization bill contains 31 reforms, including a provision that "would expose the bank's activities" in part through "the creation of an audit committee."
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