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.

In a letter to CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger, the Democratic senators argue that task force members cannot be trusted to protect consumers because they have represented payday lenders or Wall Street banks, or worked at law firms that did so.

In a letter to the agency's inspector general, the 15 lawmakers pointed to specific cases where they said the bureau departed from legal standards in deciding not to require restitution.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed an overhaul of an Obama-era rule meant to guide local jurisdictions in how they comply with the Fair Housing Act.

The two Democrats sent a letter “raising grave concerns about whether the bureau is fulfilling its statutory obligations.”

The two Democratic senators said the bureau's policy could allow companies to circumvent consumer finance laws.

Senate Democrats are warning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be careful as it considers changes to its mortgage underwriting rules.

There is bipartisan agreement in the Senate that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are "too big to fail," but some lawmakers are skeptical that a SIFI designation is appropriate.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee says he wants answers from the Financial Stability Oversight Council on efforts to address corporate debt risks.

The lawmakers are questioning the agency about its oversight of student loan servicers involved in a federal loan forgiveness program.

Industry observers will be closely monitoring Mark Calabria's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday for hints about how the Trump administration plans to proceed on mortgage finance reform.