Sherrod Brown

Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, the Banking Committee's top Republican, is talking up the prospects of a bipartisan deal to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But Democratic leaders sound less motivated to change the status quo for the government-sponsored enterprises.

With a steady stream of Senate hearings held on the racial wealth gap and inequities in the financial system, the new chairman has set a consumer-focused agenda that leans further left than even past Democratic chairs.

The top Democrats on the House and Senate banking committees urged the Trump administration to pull the plug on any steps to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with the pandemic still taking a toll on the economy.

The panel later this month will vote on the nomination of Judy Shelton, whose views on certain policy issues have met with skepticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to change the definition of what constitutes a qualified mortgage from a 43% debt-to-income limit to a price-based threshold, and further extend a temporary exemption given to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The congressional showdown over the pace of rulemaking during the pandemic is a hardening of older positions on banking policy ahead of the 2020 elections, observers said.

The letter written by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, was seen as a boost to Wall Street lobbying efforts seeking to quell the fallout of the coronavirus crisis on the mortgage market.

If Capitol Hill plans another round of stimulus, Democrats could have more leverage to demand steps such as suspending overdraft fees or placing a temporary cap on consumer lending rates.

The temporary foreclosure moratorium on loans backed by HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac comes after lawmakers and housing advocates had pushed for steps to avoid consumers getting booted from their homes.

Sens. Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren criticized Director Kathy Kraninger for not issuing any public enforcement actions against auto lenders during her tenure.