Trump Team Signals It Wants to Keep Control of Fannie, Freddie to Boost Budget
Source: Bloomberg
June 3, 2025 at 7:43 AM EDT
Updated on June 3, 2025 at 9:42 AM EDT
Signs are emerging that the Trump administration may be less willing to give up control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than investors have bargained for, as policymakers scrounge for ways to close US budget gaps. In recent social media posts, Donald Trump said he’s exploring the sale of new shares in the two companies, which play a key role in determining how much Americans pay for home loans — but he also made clear the government will keep a strong oversight role.
And in recent interviews, Federal Housing Finance Agency director William Pulte said the administration is considering a public offering without actually exiting conservatorship, the quasi-government ownership imposed on the two companies since a 2008 bailout. “Maybe there’s a way to take these companies public and use these companies for what they are, which are assets for the American people,” Pulte said Monday in an appearance on Fox Business.
The comments suggest the administration could choose a different outcome for the two mortgage giants than the one it pursued during the first Trump administration. Back then, the goal was to minimize government involvement. Now the goal may be to generate as much cash as possible for the US, potentially to help fund tax cuts.
“Until two weeks ago, we thought Trump would pick up where he left off,” said Jim Parrott, nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute and former housing policy adviser to President Barack Obama. Instead, the plan may be to keep substantial control and generate revenue for other policy priorities, he said. “That is a dramatic shift in focus,” Parrott said.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-03/us-signals-interest-in-using-fannie-freddie-to-bolster-budget?srnd=phx-politics
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