WASHINGTON While the Obama administration has publicly kept its distance from the housing finance reform debate during the past two years, it has been privately working to help move a bill forward in recent months, according to numerous sources.
The administration has often been criticized for its conspicuous absence from the reform debate, with some arguing it is clear the issue is not a top priority for the White House.
But the administration has been reluctant to engage on the issue openly, fearing that would provoke Republican opposition to any measure it supports. Instead, it has discreetly provided advice to lawmakers working on a bipartisan approach in the Senate.
“The second term of the Obama administration seems to be taking this approach on bill after bill,” Edward Mills, a financial policy analyst at FBR Capital Markets and former Hill aide, told American Banker, an affiliate of Credit Union Journal. “They are certainly engaged, but given the political dynamics on the Hill, the message the White House has received is: the more public they are about certain things the harder it is to get compromises.”
The administration has adopted a wait-and-see approach, working behind the scenes with lawmakers, but delaying offering its opinion openly until the moment is right on Capitol Hill.
“Engagement is very low, but that is very deliberate,” said Jeb Mason, a managing director with the Cypress Group. “They are still trying to play a constructive role at this stage, but very much an arm's-length constructive role.”
President Obama last week vowed to revamp the current housing finance system and take a new approach to help strengthen homeownership in the U.S.
“We will work with both parties to turn the page on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and build a housing finance system that is rock solid for future generations,” Obama said in a speech at Knox College in Illinois on July 24 as part of a string of campaign-style speeches on the economy.
The president did not provide specifics, but it is possible he may offer more details in several other planned speeches during his U.S. tour.
