Two senior Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee bristled over reports that the ousted chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will receive $24 million of severance packages.
"We find it way out of line that these two executives will be rewarded with millions of dollars in bonus compensation at a time when taxpayer dollars may have to be deployed to cover any financial losses caused by errors in management," Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Jack Reed of Rhode Island wrote in a letter Tuesday to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart. "We urge you to quickly review the compensation packages of the former CEOs, and where appropriate … substantially reduce or eliminate them."
Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., another member of the Senate Banking Committee, was also outraged. He introduced a bill that would prohibit the former executives from receiving severance payments.
