House conservatives are declaring victory in their yearslong quest to kill an obscure government bank — and Speaker John Boehner may soon face a choice whether to team up with Democrats to save it.

Republican hard-liners predicted Tuesday they have the votes to stop a reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank — a government agency that has come under fire from conservatives who argue it amounts to a free market-distorting handout — over the protest of powerful Republican business interests. The bank’s charter is set to expire at the end of June.


“I believe the momentum is in our favor,” said House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). “I think every day that the facts are out about the corruption, the cronyism, the political lending, the ideological lending of this bank, more and more members of the House Republican Conference are saying, ‘You know what? I don’t want to be a part of that.’ And so I’m optimistic that hopefully we can be victorious.”

The emphatic statements of Hensarling and other House conservatives set the stage for yet another potential showdown between Boehner, an Ohio Republican, and his right flank. Democrats want to reauthorize the bank and say it would pass if the speaker allowed a vote, but that would mean defying the wishes of a majority of the GOP conference.

Hensarling, along with Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Raúl Labrador of Idaho and Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, said enough of the 245-member Republican delegation are opposed to preserving the bank that House Republican leaders should let the agency die on June 30.

Still, there are deep divisions within the GOP over the bank. Boehner has said letting the bank’s authorization expire could kill thousands of jobs, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are pushing aggressively to extend its charter.

But nearly the entire GOP presidential field believes the bank should be dissolved — and opponents in the House have seen their ranks swell for weeks. Powerful senators like Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are also pushing to eliminate the bank.

“This is going to be a critical vote, or hopefully a nonvote, on the future of the Republican Party and the future of our economy,” Hensarling said.

The looming deadline for the bank, which provides loans to help American businesses that export products, will ramp up pressure on pro-Ex-Im Republicans and Democrats to forge a deal that can garner 217 votes. In the Senate, members of both parties hope to attach a reauthorization of the bank to trade legislation that the Senate hopes to finish by the end of this week.

Boehner has said publicly that he will follow Hensarling’s lead on whether to renew the Ex-Im Bank charter or allow it to end. But the speaker has also warned that thousands of workers could lose their jobs if the bank ceases operations. And he has told Hensarling that if the Senate passes an Ex-Im reauthorization plan, the House may be forced to put it on the floor.

“Listen, I support any plan that the chairman can get through his committee,” Boehner said late last month. “Whether it would reform the bank, wind it down — but there are thousands of jobs on the line that would disappear pretty quickly if the Ex-Im Bank were to disappear. So I told the chairman he needs to come up with a plan because the risk is, if he does nothing, the Senate is likely to act, and then what?”

If Boehner moves to renew the bank, he would be opposing nearly his entire GOP leadership team, as well as Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and the bulk of hard-line House conservatives.

And it would once again mean Boehner would be forced to rely on Democrats to pass controversial legislation over the loud objections of his conference. Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters on Tuesday that it would be simple to extend the bank’s charter before June 30 if Boehner has the confidence to allow a vote.

“Put it on the floor, it’ll pass,” Hoyer said. “It has the majority of the votes on the floor of the House of Representatives. The speaker said he’s for it and wants to see it passed.” Hoyer predicted 235 to 245 lawmakers would support that bill — a number that includes the vast majority of the Democratic Caucus and the 60 Republicans who have signed on to a reauthorization bill authored by Tennessee Republican Rep. Stephen Fincher.

Such a move, however, would cause major problems for Boehner with his right flank. The reauthorization of the bank has become a focal point for the House Freedom Caucus, the 30-member group of conservatives that attempts to push GOP leadership rightward.

If Boehner circumvents conservatives on Ex-Im, he would face tough questions over his leadership and past promises to respect the will of the majority of the GOP conference.

“He would have a lot of explaining to do,” Mulvaney said. “Why does John Boehner know better than all of our presidential candidates, the majority leader, Chairman Hensarling, Chairman Ryan, Chairman [Tom] Price [the Georgia Republican atop the Budget Committee]? If John’s attitude is that he is the only adult in the room, why are those people children?”

Conservatives have attacked the bank for “crony capitalism.” They argue that the bank picks economic winners and losers by giving loans to corporations like Boeing and General Motors — and runs counter to the small-government principles the hard-line Republicans were elected on.

“This is a fundamental position our party has,” Jordan said. “We’re the party of not cronyism, not cozy relationships, not connected corporations getting special deals. We’re the party of free markets. For the Senate to try and tie it onto something else, that is a huge problem, and our side will look at every option we have to try and stop that.”

Supporters argue that the bank helps U.S. companies compete abroad as most developed nations offer subsidies to corporations that export national goods. Democrats also argue that the bank gives loans to small businesses to help them get footing into foreign markets.

At a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers from both parties said without the Ex-Im bank, their districts could experience major job losses.

“As we continue to debate reauthorization, I hope we can focus on the fact of jobs and the more than 60 competing international export credit agencies that undercut and destroy American jobs daily,” GOP Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina said. “In a perfect world, the Export-Import Bank would not be needed, but, unfortunately … we do not live in a perfect world.”

Victoria Guida and John Bresnahan contributed to this report.