Two prominent House Republicans called on the Obama administration Tuesday to swiftly address the future of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“With the national debt at nearly $14 trillion and unemployment still near 10 percent, the administration has yet to stop the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said in a statement. “It is past time to rid the American taxpayer of the liabilities of these financial institutions once and for all.”
Treasury Secretary Tim Geither and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan held a listening session with top private lending officials on Tuesday that was expected to address the long-term plan for the two government sponsored enterprises.
Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said the two GSE’s should stop benefitting from taxpayer dollars, and called on the administration to investigate Fannie Mae’s dealings earlier this decade with other lenders.
“As our nation marched down the path leading to a crippling financial crisis, Fannie Mae should have been trying to cool off risky sub-prime lending and protect the economy from a volatile housing bubble,” said Issa. “The reality is that as Fannie-Freddie executives were accepting Countrywide VIP loans, they were also developing a strategy to form a partnership with Countrywide with the goal of using that relationship to influence the mortgage industry and policymakers.”