At a time when costs continue to soar and regulators weigh reforms for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, more than half of the Democratic presidential candidates have talked about housing on the campaign trail.
Craig Phillips, who has been developing the Trump administration's plan to help free Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship, will leave Treasury next month.
In his first public policy speech as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mark Calabria stressed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have to raise significant capital via a public offering and take other steps in order to escape government control.
Two senators, a Republican and a Democrat, have revived legislation that would prohibit Congress from using certain fees collected by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offset unrelated government spending.
New FHFA Director Mark Calabria isn't just charting a future for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but also fixing problems resulting from the "Qualified Mortgage" exemption for the GSEs and taking a "deep dive" into problems in the mortgage servicing market.
A bipartisan proposal would allow for the removal of the FHFA director if the agency approves CEO salary increases at Fannie and Freddie beyond $600,000.
