Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, May 23, 2018 -

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling released the following statement regarding Senate confirmation of Brian Montgomery for the dual role of Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Assistant Secretary for Housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  

“I want to congratulate Brian Montgomery on his confirmation to be the new FHA Commissioner and HUD Assistant Secretary for Housing.  Mr. Montgomery’s confirmation could not come at a more important time. FHA today remains at crossroads, having suffered from years of mission creep, politically-directed giveaways, and financial mismanagement under the Obama Administration.  Their high-risk combination of cheap, up-front pricing and elevated maximum loan limits swelled the total size of FHA’s insurance book, morphing it from a mortgage insurer of last resort to the dominant insurer displacing private investment. 

“Fixing these problems and undoing the damage to the FHA’s brand will be a challenge. However, I believe that by right-sizing the FHA to focus on its traditional mission of helping creditworthy low- and moderate-income individuals and by adhering to actuarially sound underwriting, Mr. Montgomery can help restore credibility to this important decades-old government program.”