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Posts tagged as “Fannie Mae”

Mel Watt Confirmed as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Regulator

By goodblacknews on December 11, 2013
Mel Watt is pictured. | AP Photo
Watt was nominated in May to be the regulator of Fannie and Freddie. | AP Photo
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Rep. Mel Watt to be the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, ending a months-long confirmation battle over President Barack Obama’s choice to oversee taxpayer-owned mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The vote was 57-41, with just two Republicans, Rob Portman of Ohio and Richard Burr of North Carolina, voting in support of Watt (D-N.C.).

Watt was nominated in May to be the regulator of Fannie and Freddie, a decision that drew fierce opposition from Senate Republicans who argued someone with technical expertise in mortgage finance markets not a politician should lead the agency.

In October, Watt failed to clear a 60-vote threshold necessary for his nomination to advance. But a recent controversial Senate rule change, which requires only a simple majority vote to get around procedural hurdles, cleared the way for Watt’s confirmation.

Obama Nominates Congressman Melvin Watt to Lead Mortgage Agency

By goodblacknews on May 1, 2013
President Obama congratulated Representative Melvin L. Watt, left, after nominating him on Wednesday to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON – President Obama on Wednesday nominated Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, to become the overseer of the government-backed mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  If approved by the Senate, Mr. Watt would replace Edward J. DeMarco, who has been acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency for more than three years.

Mr. Watt is a lawyer who has represented North Carolina in Congress for the last two decades.  If he won Senate confirmation, he would become a powerful economic policy maker, as the housing market recovers and the White House contemplates the government’s future role in it.  “Mel understands as well as anybody what caused the housing crisis,” Mr. Obama said in a ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House. “He knows what it’s going to take to help responsible homeowners fully recover and he’s committed to helping folks just like his mom,” who attended the ceremony, and whom Mr.Obama characterized as “Americans who work really hard, play by the rules, day in and day out, to provide for their families.”