As usual, the Trump administration’s proposed annual budget appears to be dead on arrival. It simply steps on too many legislative toes. Among the issues the budget will face is how Congress reacts to its treatment of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Freddie Mac will restructure all future credit-risk transfer offerings through its flagship Structured Agency Credit Risk program as real estate mortgage investment conduits, Kevin Palmer, senior vice president for single-family credit risk transfer, said.

The Current Expected Credit Losses standard, a new accounting protocol expected to go into effect in 2020, could have an outsized impact on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, a prominent Republican on the House Financial Services Committee.

To paraphrase Mark Twain: Rumors of HARP’s death have been greatly exaggerated. At least that’s the finding of a recent report by structured finance analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch who looked the impact similar programs will have on the GSEs’ credit-risk transfer programs.

In an about-face, the Federal Housing Finance Agency told the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals that it will no longer defend the constitutionality of its single-director leadership structureunderthe Housing and Economic Recovery Act, which created the FHFA.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency last week announced revisions to its final rules pertaining to capital requirements for Federal Home Loan Banks.

At 21 days, the current government shutdown ties for the longest on record, and its impact on the GSEs and housing finance remains fluid.

Fannie Mae has revised the maximum number of allowable days for routine foreclosure proceedings in 20 jurisdictions. For servicers in 16 states plus New York City, the number of days has been increased, while in three states the permitted time frame has been decreased.