WASHINGTON — After a State of the Union speech in which President Trump called for unity and bipartisanship, lawmakers Tuesday said they were intent on trying to address the biggest unresolved piece of financial services policy: housing finance reform.
Congress is still largely at an impasse over reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac more than 10 years after they were put into conservatorships. But the issue has
After hearing Trump's speech, which did not touch on financial services issues, members of the House and Senate banking committees said reforming the government-sponsored enterprises was a priority and Congress should have a role.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, said Crapo's outline was "encouraging" and he planned to release a "general statement along similar lines with my view on how we do housing finance reform."
"Divided government is a perfect time to do housing finance reform, perfect time to solve big problems," McHenry said in an interview after the State of the Union address. "At the end of the day the big questions are going to be resolved by changes in law. ... We should be in the business of legislating. This shouldn't simply be executive action."
Crapo, an Idaho Republican,
The odds are still against a bipartisan legislative deal, after numerous failed attempts in Congress to pass GSE reform and with a stark partisan divide on Capitol Hill. Still, Trump's speech highlighted recent examples of Republicans and Democrats ultimately coming together on substantial bills.
"Now is the time for bipartisan action. Believe it or not, we have already proven that it is possible," Trump said.
"In the last Congress, both parties came together to pass unprecedented legislation to confront the opioid crisis, a sweeping new farm bill, historic [Department of Veterans Affairs] reforms, and after four decades of rejection, we passed VA accountability so we can finally terminate those who mistreat our wonderful veterans."
Lawmakers said housing finance policy was still a priority for them.
“There is nothing higher on our agenda than some serious and life-changing reform, not just in terms of programs through [the Department of Housing and Urban Development] but also with the GSEs," said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., who chairs a House Financial Services subcommittee. "Everybody recognizes that we’ve got to make some changes. We are not going to move toward privatizing the GSEs. We've got to maintain some kind of secondary market."
Cleaver said House Democrats will attempt to find a compromise with the Republican-controlled Senate.
"I think you are going to find that there’s going to be at least an attempt on our part to work with the Senate to try to come up with something that’s acceptable on both sides," Cleaver said.
Other members said that, while they would support efforts by the administration to coordinate on reforms to Fannie and Freddie, they think Congress should chart a legislative course forward.
“I like the fact that the Senate, the House and the administration are working in concert on this," said Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., a member of the House Financial Services Committee. "I think the best and permanent solution is a legislative solution.”
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said that he would back administrative action on the GSEs but that he would prefer that Congress act.
"I would be supportive of both right now," Perdue said. "We’ve got to get a lot of ideas aired out here. Get a common path. Frankly, I’d like to see Congress do it, because that means it’s codified into law.”
