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Washington • A group of Republican lawmakers, including Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, took aim Thursday at ending government support and taxpayer subsidies for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Hatch, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Budget Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., would set the two quasi-governmental companies on a path to privatization within two years by capping and shrinking their holdings.
After the housing crisis of recent years, Hatch said, it is time to take Fannie and Freddie "off government life support."
"This has to change," Hatch said at a news conference. "The American people are fed up. They're sick of it."
McCain said the two companies have become synonymous with mismanagement and they should be on a level playing field with other mortgage lenders that don't have the government backing them up.
"The time has come to require them to stand on their own two feet," McCain said.
The new legislation, which Bachus said he would schedule for a hearing soon, also would require increasingly higher down payments for mortgages, starting with 5 percent down in the first year the measure became law and rising to 10 percent in the third year to "increase the quality of all loans."
Representatives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac declined to comment.