As Calabria assumes his position, housing finance reform is a hot topic.

The Senate voted to confirm Dr. Mark A. Calabria as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Calabria was confirmed by a vote of 52-44. Calabria was nominated for the post of Director of the FHFA by the Trump administration in December 2018. Prior to being nominated for this position, he was the Chief Economist to Vice President Mike Pence. Calabria steps into the role as head of FHFA at a time when housing finance reform has been a hot topic in both Washington, D.C., and beyond, including discussions about whether the conservatorship of the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, should be ended. Recently, Calabria had told the Senate Banking Committee during a hearing that "FHFA is absolutely necessary. In fact, I want to raise the stature of FHFA. I remember how the employees at its predecessor felt and their inability to stand up and be able to do effective financial regulation. I'm committed to turning FHFA into a world-class regulator." During his nomination hearing, Calabria gave an outline of what his priorities would be if confirmed. Calabria said that a number of critical elements were needed in reform such as a "greater need for competition." He said the current FHFA mandate was clearly where "the regulator cannot make such changes." As a result, he said, "The very broad changes that have to happen in the residential finance system have to be done by Congress." Calabria said that if he was confirmed as the FHFA Director his objective would be to ensure the GSEs were, "well capitalized, well managed, and well regulated." 

Source: The MReport