Responding to written questions from the Senate Banking Committee, Trump’s new Treasury secretary gave the mortgage industry limited insight into his views on GSE reform.

While the Trump administration wants to end the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, there are numerous roadblocks.

Trump’s nominee for FHFA director has drawn strong support from some quarters, but also some reservations.

Hugh Frater and Don Layton speculate on the likelihood a second Trump administration can get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship.

The former chief housing advisor to the Treasury secretary during the first Trump administration will now oversee Freddie’s regulatory and conservatorship affairs operations.

Treasury and FHFA agreed on some guidelines for how the process of getting the GSEs out of conservatorship will work. But they didn’t set that process in motion.

Even if lawmakers can’t agree on how or whether to release the GSEs from conservatorship, there are incremental steps they can take, according to former FHFA Director Mark Calabria.

Some industry groups are calling for a legislative solution to ending the conservatorships; others say FHFA and Treasury can do it themselves.

Mortgage industry stakeholders speculate about who Trump will nominate to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and determine whether they remain in conservatorship or are re-privatized.

Although a Republican victory in November might revive efforts to release the GSEs from conservatorship, this would likely be a multi-year effort, according to the former FHFA director.