Joe Biden’s election victory has likely ended the Trump administration’s efforts to return Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to private hands, the Wall Street Journal reported. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested in an interview that he is unlikely to support a consent order to end the government conservatorships of the mortgage-finance companies before President Trump leaves office. His signoff would be required for any change in their legal status. “We’re going to not do anything that jeopardizes taxpayers and puts them at additional risk,” Mnuchin said. “We also want to be careful that we don’t do anything that overnight would limit access to mortgage finance.” Mark Calabria, the Trump-appointed regulator of the companies, was pushing as recently as last month to speed up the mortgage giants’ exit from government control before Biden’s inauguration next month. Calabria wanted the government to take legal steps that the next administration would find difficult to reverse — such as a consent order — but he cannot do so without Mnuchin’s approval. Mnuchin said he is focused on steps that would allow the companies to build capital to absorb future losses and eventually raise money from new, third-party investors.
