Getting Fannie and Freddie out of conservatorship isn’t 'a focus' for this Congress, the secretary says
GSE reform isn’t going to happen this year, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Mnuchin said during a September policy summit that reforming Fannie and Freddie was a priority for 2018, but speaking to Fox Business this week, he admitted it probably wasn’t in the cards this year. Mnuchin said he wants to take action on the GSEs after the midterm elections this year.
Congress needs to act to get GSE reform rolling, Mnuchin said – and right now Congress just isn’t interested.
“What gets done here will need to be done on a bipartisan basis,” Mnuchin told Fox Business. “We have had conversations with both Democrats and Republicans, and unfortunately I just don’t think this is going to be a focus in this Congress. But we will come back to this next year, and this will be a big focus of mine post the elections.”
But Mnuchin said he was determined to haul Fannie and Freddie out of the conservatorship they’ve been in for nearly a decade.
“I am determined that we have a fix to the GSEs, and that we won’t leave them in conservatorship for the rest of the time,” he told Fox Business.
Mnuchin also said that President Donald Trump would be looking to replace Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, whose term ends early next year.
“That’s something we are going to look at and make sure we have someone in that job that supports the agenda,” he said.
