Trump EXIM pick withdrew nomination following scrutiny over Russia ties

President Donald Trump’s pick for a top post at the U.S. Export-Import Bank withdrew his nomination on Wednesday after facing scrutiny from Democrats over his ties to Russian companies.

Bryce McFerran, who was nominated to serve as first vice president and vice chair of the bank, reportedly worked for years as an executive at a Russian-owned steel company and has family ties through his wife’s relatives to the Kremlin.

The Russian connections, first reported Wednesday by the Washington Post, drew scrutiny in recent weeks from the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who pressed McFerran over potential conflicts of interest.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai defended McFerran in a statement, saying that “his prior business interests have been fully researched, vetted, and cleared by the nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics – a fact that should deter the Fake News from continuing to perpetuate the debunked Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.”

Desai added that McFerran withdrew from the nomination process on Oct. 27. He will remain in his current acting role as EXIM’s chief banking officer “until a permanent replacement is named in the coming weeks,” Desai said.

The Export-Import Bank declined to comment.

McFerran worked as an official at a Swiss subsidiary of the steel firm Evraz, which is co-owned by a Russian oligarch and was sanctioned by the British government in 2022. His father-in-law previously served in the Russian parliament and is now an aide to one of President Vladimir Putin’s advisers and an official at a Kremlin-backed investment fund, according to the Post.

McFerran, a major GOP donor, gave nearly $1 million to support Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, according to FEC records.

Warren wrote in a letter to McFerran on Wednesday that his work for the Russian firm “raises significant questions about [his] judgment and [his] commitment to U.S. national security.”

“Your history working at a key subsidiary of a UK-sanctioned Russian company in Switzerland raises questions about your ability to serve faithfully and effectively in these roles,” the Massachusetts Democrat wrote. The bank is the government’s official export credit agency and provides loans, loan guarantees and insurance in support of U.S. exporters.

Prior to withdrawing his nomination, which was first reported by Blue Light News, McFerran was scheduled to appear for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.