Congress should reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, not kill them

It’s commonplace in Washington for policymakers to wait until the public has stopped paying attention before making serious decisions.

Immediately following the Senate Banking Committee‘s public consideration of a controversial new housing bill just last week, the committee quickly went quiet. But any day now, the committee is set to vote on Johnson-Crapo, a significant piece of legislation that would completely reconstruct the housing finance system as we know it, by eliminating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.