Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he has not decided when — or even if – the panel will consider the nomination of NCUA Board Member J. Mark McWatters to the Export-Import Bank Board of Directors.

“A lot of us would like to abolish the Export-Import Bank,” Shelby (pictured at left) said in an interview with CU Times.

Even though Senate Banking Committee hearings are underway for some Obama Administration nominees, Shelby made it clear that a decision on whether to move the nomination of McWatters and others continues to depend on whether the administration nominates a vice chairman of supervision at the Federal Reserve.

Shelby said that position was created under the Dodd-Frank Act, adding that under that statute, the position was already supposed to be filled.

“That's a big thing,” Shelby said. “I'd like to move on the Fed nominee. I'd like them to follow the law.”

Committee maneuvers on nominations gained even more importance earlier this month when NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz announced her intention to leave the agency at the end of April. Shelby's committee also would handle the nomination of someone to replace Matz at the NCUA.

Democrats have been upset with Shelby over his unwillingness to conduct hearings on administration nominees.

“For more than a year, the committee has failed to carry out one of its basic duties,” panel Democrats said in a Feb. 22 letter to Shelby. “It is the only committee in the Senate that did not act on a single nominee last year.”

The letter pointed out that the Ex-Im Bank cannot approve transactions of more than $10 million because it does not have enough members on its board.

And the letter acknowledged Shelby's concern about the open Fed post.

“We are aware of your concern that the Administration has not nominated anyone to serve as vice chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve, but the response to one vacancy should not be the creation of 16 more,” the Democrats wrote.

The banking committee on Tuesday held a hearing on a nominee to head the U.S. Mint and two members of the SEC. The panel also scheduled an April 7 meeting to vote on an inspector general at the FDIC and an assistant Treasury secretary.

The announcement left open the possibility that the committee might vote on additional nominations.

However, since a hearing on McWatters has not even been scheduled yet, it would likely be difficult to vote on him soon.

Shelby has been under pressure from members of the business community — including the National Association of Manufacturers — to move on the McWatters nomination.

However, banking committee ranking Democrat Sherrod Brown said Tuesday he has not received any assurance that Shelby will move on additional nominees.

Asked about McWatters, Brown said, “There's nothing moving on it yet. It's one of our most important priorities.”

Even if Shelby schedules a hearing on McWatters, the committee would have to vote on the nomination, which then would go to the Senate floor.

Given Republican opposition to the Ex-Im Bank, GOP senators could force a procedural vote that would require 60 votes to bring the nomination to the floor.

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Shelby: No Plans to Move McWatters to Ex-Im

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