Trump Administration Releases Plan to Overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The following article was written by Aidan Camas and originally published on September 27, 2019 by Worldwide ERC. View the original article.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has proposed to move Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac toward privatization, but with a federal loan guaranty.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has released its new Housing Reform Plan, which aims to re-privatize mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump instructed the Treasury Department to draft a plan that would end the federal government’s conservatorship over Fannie and Freddie, which began as part of a federal government bailout in response to the 2008 financial crisis. In the years following the financial crisis, the federal government has struggled to agree upon a plan that addresses the future of these institutions. As part of the federal government’s conservatorship, all profit made by the mortgage giants is being “swept” into the Treasury Department’s account. It is estimated that Fannie and Freddie have now paid the federal government billions of dollars more than they were given as a bailout. The profitability of Fannie and Freddie for the government is another reason Congress has had little incentive to make changes to the current relationship. Treasury’s new 50-point plan outlines how the Trump Administration would like to see Fannie and Freddie recapitalized but getting this accomplished will require the help of both Congress and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), something that will be a major undertaking. Read More
