Sherrod Brown

Graham Steele, a former Senate Banking Committee staffer who has supported strong regulation, was named as the administration's choice for assistant secretary of financial institutions.

Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, the Banking Committee's top Republican, is talking up the prospects of a bipartisan deal to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But Democratic leaders sound less motivated to change the status quo for the government-sponsored enterprises.

Mortgage lenders have much riding on a yearslong effort to overhaul a program that requires homeowners to hold policies in flood-prone areas. A congressional panel meeting to discuss the issue was once again split between lawmakers from storm-threatened states and those concerned about government costs.

Steve Daines of Montana, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming are joining the panel for the 117th Congress.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said elevating affordable housing issues, examining the financial system through a climate and racial justice "lens," and holding banks accountable for their impact on consumers will be among his priorities.

The top Democrats on the House and Senate banking committees urged the Trump administration to pull the plug on any steps to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with the pandemic still taking a toll on the economy.

If the GOP can hold its majority in the chamber, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., will likely become the panel's chairman. His ardent support for free-market principles could set up partisan clashes with Democrats over pandemic relief, money laundering rules and more.

The legislation would extend to the banking system the Civil Rights Act's protections for customers of hotels and restaurants.

Senate Democrats asked a watchdog to examine whether the bank regulator failed to investigate claims of discrimination against at least six banks.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to change the definition of what constitutes a qualified mortgage from a 43% debt-to-income limit to a price-based threshold, and further extend a temporary exemption given to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The letter written by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, was seen as a boost to Wall Street lobbying efforts seeking to quell the fallout of the coronavirus crisis on the mortgage market.

The temporary foreclosure moratorium on loans backed by HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac comes after lawmakers and housing advocates had pushed for steps to avoid consumers getting booted from their homes.

In letters to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, six Democrats asked how the mortgage giants are factoring extreme weather into their risk modeling.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed an overhaul of an Obama-era rule meant to guide local jurisdictions in how they comply with the Fair Housing Act.

The two Democrats sent a letter "raising grave concerns about whether the bureau is fulfilling its statutory obligations."

Senate Democrats are warning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be careful as it considers changes to its mortgage underwriting rules.

Eric Blankenstein, now at HUD, is under fire for asking a subordinate to defend him after it was revealed he wrote racially charged blogs 14 years earlier.

A group of Senate Democrats have called on HUD Secretary Ben Carson to reverse his agency’s opinion that borrowers in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are ineligible for FHA loans.

There is bipartisan agreement in the Senate that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are "too big to fail," but some lawmakers are skeptical that a SIFI designation is appropriate.

Senators dove into how to ensure housing finance reform serves lenders of all sizes, just as the Trump administration moved closer to crafting its own GSE plan.