Overhauling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a financial regulation priority for the Trump administration, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief economist said yesterday, adding that “a set of principles” will likely emerge in the coming months, MorningConsult.com reported yesterday. Mark Calabria said that the administration is examining mortgage finance policy to “try to figure out, really, what should the best approach be?” Officials are examining “what role Fannie and Freddie currently play” in the mortgage market, he said, emphasizing that taxpayers should “never again” bail out the government-sponsored enterprises. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed under the conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency in 2008 and received $187 billion in a taxpayer bailout that kept the two GSEs afloat. Republicans in Congress frequently cite the need to wind down government control of the two entities, and Calabria warned yesterday that taxpayers are increasingly exposed to risks in the housing market.
