In a straight, party-line vote, the Senate Thursday confirmed conservative economist Mark Calabria to be the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Freddie Mac announced Thursday that current President David Brickman will get the nod to head the GSE. He will also take a seat on the board of directors. Donald Layton, the current CEO, will retire in July, as planned.
The general consensus was that Mark Calabria would be easily confirmed as FHFA director. So it came as somewhat of a surprise when his nomination passed out of the committee last week on a 13- to-12, straight party-line vote.
Mel Watt violated ethics rules as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency by attempting to “coerce” a senior manager into a relationship by suggesting he could help her in getting an executive post, according to a just-released report from the agency’s inspector general.
Freddie Mac last week announced that Sara Mathew has been elected non-executive chair of the company’s board of directors. Mathew, who currently chairs the board’s audit committee, will replace Christopher Lynch, who’s term-limited out after 10 years on the board, six of them as chair.
In a joint letter sent late last month, Maxine Waters, D-CA, chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sherrod Brown, D-OH, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, raised serious questions about the legitimacy of Joseph Otting’s recent designation as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Mark Calabria, the White House nominee to be the next permanent director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will get a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Feb. 14. The SBC released the hearing schedule for Calabria and other nominees late Thursday.
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