The California lawmaker is in line to lead the financial services committee
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Reforming housing finance would be the legislative priority in Congress if Democrats take the House in the mid-term elections, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said, according to a Bloomberg report.
As the top Democrat on the powerful House Financial Services Committee, Waters would be in line to become leader of the panel if Democrats take control of Congress.
Waters, responding to a question at a CNBC Capital Exchange event, said fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie is “very important to me.”
Although Waters did not specify how she would fix housing finance, the lawmaker has previously criticized Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) over his failure to progress from his suggestion to severely limit the role of the government in the mortgage market. Hensarling is the current leader of the financial services committee.
Waters also said that another priority would be to undo the changes done by Mick Mulvaney as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Waters also said that she would hold banks accountable for wrongs done to consumers.
“We have to pay attention to the biggest US banks,” Waters said.
According to Bloomberg, Republicans on Capitol Hill and Wall Street are worried about Waters potentially taking over the committee despite the elections still months away.
