The pitched battle over a relatively unknown federal agency further inflamed the Republican Party’s ideological feud as the Senate voted Sunday to extend the life of the Export-Import Bank over intense conservative objections.

On a roll-call vote of 67 to 26, the chamber included language in a federal highway bill that would renew the charter of the bank, which extends loan guarantees to help U.S. corporations sell goods abroad. The vote split the GOP caucus almost evenly and exposed a deep division among the party’s leaders and presidential contenders.

“We serve the people, not our own egos,” Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), a 39-year member of the chamber, said before the vote.

His speech served as a rebuke to a trio of first-term senators who are running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, with a sharp focus on Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), who on Friday accused Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) of lying about his intentions regarding the Ex-Im amendment.