The House Financial Services Committee will investigate Fannie Mae over a report that one of executives has been lobbying to get the bailed-out mortgage giant out of the government’s hands, chairman Jeb Hensarling said Friday.
“It is a slap in the face of taxpayers that Fannie Mae thinks it can take their money and blatantly ignore the rules that came with it,” the Texas Republican said. “The American people deserve better.”
Fannie Mae’s general counsel has been advocating with Trump administration officials for the company to be released from government conservatorship and placed back into private hands, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Under the terms of the 2008 bailout for the company, it is not supposed to engage in political advocacy.
Some legislators, including Hensarling, have sought to shutter Fannie and Freddie Mac in order to ensure that there is not a repeat of the pre-crisis dynamic, in which the two companies took on risk to gain profits, but then got a taxpayer rescue when they failed.
Hensarling and other conservators have been particularly sensitive to the possibility that either of the two could be lobbying, engaging in activism, or otherwise becoming more politically engaged.
Congress has failed to advance reforms to the housing finance system, though, raising the likelihood of the Trump administration pursuing action on its own to resolve their status. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said he is committed to getting them out of government conservatorship.
Asked for comment, a representative for Fannie Mae said that the company does not lobby and has not advocated for any specific housing finance reform.
