|
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House debated legislation Thursday that would tighten federal oversight of the two largest buyers and guarantors of home mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The bill is the product of an earlier compromise between majority Democrats and the Bush administration. It also has attracted support from a number of House Republicans.
But the bill was reshaped in a way that lessens the power of the new federal regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over their massive mortgage holdings, compared with an earlier version that moved through the House. The mortgage portfolios of the two government-sponsored companies now are worth a combined $1.5 trillion, and the administration has insisted that the new regulator should have the discretion and authority to reduce them.
|