With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still in conservatorship, Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, pressed the White House on Monday to appoint an inspector general for the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
In a letter to White House Counsel Gregory Craig, Issa asked why President Obama is "dragging his feet in appointing" an inspector general.
"We are now nearly 11 months into this presidency," Issa, a California Republican wrote in a letter dated Monday.
"The president's failure to act has left the agency charged with overseeing two of the most irresponsible government-sponsored entities … without any inspector general."
Issa also sent similar letters to Daniel Koffsky, an official at the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice, and Alfred Pollard, the Finance Agency's general counsel.
The pressure comes as the Finance Agency has been accused of stripping Edward Kelley of inspector general duties.
Kelley was the IG at the Federal Housing Finance Board, which was merged into the Finance Agency in 2008.
The Finance Agency, backed by the Justice Department, contends that Kelley could not continue in that post because only the president can nominate an IG.
