By JM Rieger and Matthew Fleming

With the Export-Import Bank authorization set to expire at the end of the month, it appears the bank will lapse temporarily but could be revived in July. At his weekly news conference Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said a surface transportation reauthorization bill would be the “obvious place” for a vote to keep the Export-Import Bank alive. “What I’ve said repeatedly going back to our initial discussion on TPA is we would get a vote on an amendable vehicle in June — we’ve had that,” McConnell said. “That gave the supporters of Ex-Im the opportunity to demonstrate that the votes were there and then the highway bill will be open for amendment. And it’s pretty obvious that that would be a place for this vote to occur.” A short-term highway bill passed last month expires July 31. Read more.