WASHINGTON, D.C. — Over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced his selection of Spencer Bachus, former congressman for Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District, to serve out the remainder of a four-year term on the board of the Export-Import Bank. The term Bachus has filled will expire on Jan. 20 of 2019.
With the turnover in administrations, there are several vacancies on the Ex-Im Bank’s board at the moment that the president will fill going forward.
The Ex-Im Bank was created by President Franklin Roosevelt as an executive agency in 1934. It became independent in 1945 and operates with the goal of facilitating transactions that would never occur in the free market due to inherent political or commercial risks. Libertarian-leaning Republicans were able to force the bank’s charter to expire back in 2015, but it was reauthorized shortly thereafter in a bill signed by President Barack Obama. It next comes up for reauthorization in September of 2019.
Bachus served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from 1993 from 2015. After leaving politics, Bachus started a law firm in Birmingham called Bachus and Broom, LLC. He holds a B.A. from Auburn University and a J.D. from The University of Alabama School of Law.
Trump has taken to placing top Alabama power players into key positions in his administration. Attorney General Jeff Sessions served as one of Alabama’s U.S. Senators for 20 years, and one of his top aides, Stephen Miller, also now works closely with the president. Yellowhammer founder and former CEO Cliff Sims works for President Trump as the White House’s director of message strategy.
