In a contentious hearing in the House Financial Services Committee, congressional Democrats evinced serious skepticism about the Federal Home Loan Bank System. That could bode ill for the Home Loan banks should control of the House flip in November.

Existing efforts to reform the Federal Home Loan Bank System may look dead on arrival in a Trump administration, but the proposed Department of Government Efficiency may not be able to resist such low-hanging fruit.

The Federal Home Loan banks must be looking at the shift in presidential polling with alarm. A Democratic victory would open the door to tougher regulation and potential streamlining of the 11-bank system.

The questions about whether the Home Loan banks receive a public subsidy has been settled. All that remains is for lawmakers to take steps to redirect that subsidy toward public benefits rather than corporate profits.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's report on the system at 100 years old signals major shifts in both policy and structure are on the horizon.

The idyllic existence of Federal Home Loan bank leaders has persisted for 90 years. Now the castle walls may be crumbling.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency head has said: "The status quo is not acceptable." She could not be more correct.

If a $6.3 billion subsidy only generates a $304 million return in terms of housing and community development support, is that money well spent?

The Federal Home Loan banks and their clients were well represented in the Federal Housing Finance Agency's recent "listening tour." The public, not so much.

The system may be good for the banks that own it, but it is not meeting its public mission.