Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus today announced the Committee will convene a hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to review the Obama Administration’s report on housing finance. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 1^st at 10 am in room 2128 Rayburn.

Chairman Bachus said, “Bringing a real end to the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is one of the most important tasks for the Committee. Two years ago, Republicans recognized the need to reform Fannie and Freddie and proposed a plan that would protect taxpayers and build a strong housing finance system. Many of the ideas included in the Republican plan are part of the Administration’s report that was released earlier this month. This can be the basis for finding some common ground on moving forward.  However, we can’t look at the GSEs in isolation. Comprehensive reform of housing finance must include FHA and have as its ultimate goal a system based on private capital, not taxpayer subsidies.”

 

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed in conservatorship on September 7, 2008. In February 2009, in one of the first acts of the Obama Administration, the Treasury increased the amount of Fannie and Freddie’s bailout from $200 billion to $400 billion.  On December 24, 2009, the Obama Administration again increased the bailout of Fannie and Freddie—this time to an unlimited amount.  As part of this expanded bailout, the Administration also relaxed the limitations on the GSEs’ portfolios and approved multi-million dollar compensation packages for the executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Dodd-Frank Act included no reforms for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but merely called for Treasury to study the issue and report to Congress by January 31, 2011.  Treasury released its report on February 11^th. To date, Fannie and Freddie have drawn on $150 billion in taxpayer support to fund their operations.