Trump’s nominee for Export-Import Bank withdraws over Russia ties

President Trump’s choice for a high-level position at the U.S. Export-Import Bank stepped aside after Democrats and the media raised questions about his ties to Russia.

The White House confirmed Thursday that Bryce McFerran pulled out of consideration for the spot this week. A Senate confirmation hearing had been scheduled for later Thursday.

“Bryce McFerran withdrew from the nomination process with the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. on October 27 and will remain as chief banking officer until a permanent replacement is named in the coming weeks,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai in a statement.

“Bryce McFerran and his prior business interests have been fully researched, vetted and cleared by nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics — a fact that should deter the Fake News from continuing to perpetuate that debunked Russia, Russia, Russia hoax,” the statement continued.

A spokesperson for the Export-Import Bank also confirmed that Mr. McFerran withdrew his nomination. The bank is the government’s official export credit agency and provides loans, loan guarantees and insurance in support of U.S. exporters.

Mr. McFerran’s nomination faced questions after The Washington Post obtained federal financial disclosures showing he spent much of the past decade as a senior executive at a Swiss subsidiary of Evraz PLC, a steel-trading business co-owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. McFerran continued to work at Evraz after the U.K. imposed sanctions on the company in 2022. The punishment came because it made railway wheels and rail tracks for the Russian military to move supplies and troops to the frontlines in Ukraine. The U.S. later sanctioned several Evraz subsidiaries.

The Post also reported that Mr. McFerran has extensive ties to the Kremlin through his wife’s family. Her family members hold several senior positions at a Russian-backed investment fund, and her father is an aide to one of Mr. Putin’s advisers and previously served as a senator in Russia’s upper chamber of Parliament, the Post reported.

Mr. McFerran’s withdrawal comes a week after Paul Ingrassia, the White House pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel, also withdrew his nomination after reports surfaced that he sent texts declaring he had “a Nazi streak” and demeaning the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.