President Donald Trump said Friday he'll nominate a criticof the U.S. Export-Import Bank — one who has derided the bank as“corporate welfare” — to run the institution, which has beenoperating under strict lending limits because of a partisan battleover its mission.

Trump, who as a candidate said he didn't think the bank neededto exist, named former New Jersey Rep. Scott Garrett, one of thebiggest recipients of Wall Street donations among House members, tobe the bank's chairman and president. He tapped former Alabama Rep.Spencer Bachus for a seat on the bank's board of directors. Bothpositions require Senate confirmation.

Trump hinted at a shift in his position on Ex-Im during aninterview on April 12. “Actually, it's a very good thing. And itactually makes money; it can make a lot of money,” Trump told theWall Street Journal. “It turns out that, first of all, lots ofsmall companies are really helped, the vendor companies.”

In 2015, Trump told Bloomberg that the bank's role amounted to“featherbedding” for some politicians and companies. Theguarantees loans for international buyers of products from U.S.companies.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg is said to have helped change thepresident's view of the agency. Boeing is by far the largestbeneficiary of the bank among exporters, to the tune of severalbillion dollars annually, followed by General Electric.

Small-government conservatives shut down the bank in 2015 byblocking its reauthorization. While the bank was revived, itsfive-member board has lacked a quorum, which restricted it fromgranting loans of more than $10 million. Former President BarackObama's late-term nominees were blocked by Senate Republicans,including Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama.

In Garrett, Trump has chosen a critic of a government agency torun it, similar to his appointment of Scott Pruitt as administratorof the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The Export-Import Bank's long legacy of crony capitalism hashurt the livelihoods and businesses of many Americans who don't getspecial treatment from this misguided government program,” Garrettsaid in a 2015 statement. Conservative groups, including HeritageAction and Americans for Prosperity, oppose the bank for similarreasons.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, urgedsenators to reject Garrett's nomination because of his paststance.

'Act of Sabotage'

“In Scott Garrett, the president has nominated someone whohelped lead the charge to shut down the Export-Import Bank inCongress against a super-majority that was in favor of keeping itopen so it could continue creating and supporting American jobs andexports,” Hoyer said in a statement. “If former RepresentativeGarrett is confirmed to lead the Bank, it would be the ultimate actof sabotage.”

Garrett, 57, failed to win re-election in 2016 after seven termsin Congress. He lost the backing of major Wall Street donors aftera report that he'd told fellow Republican lawmakers he wouldn'tgive money to the party's congressional campaign arm because itsupported openly gay candidates.

Bachus, a former chairman of the House Financial ServicesCommittee, has previously supported the Ex-Im bank, sponsoring a2012 law that reauthorized the bank. Bachus retired from Congressin 2015.

Backers of the bank say that most of its lending supports smalland medium-sized businesses.

In fiscal 2014, the bank's last full year of operation, itbacked $27.5 billion in exports — somewhat less than 2% of the U.S.total. This financing supported 164,000 American jobs that year,according to the bank, and about 90% of the bank's deals helpedsmall businesses.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has pushed for the bank's lendingpowers to be fully restored, saying that without it, jobs might belost to competitors in China or Russia.

Bloomberg News

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