Policymaking

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and four other Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are insisting on a recorded vote by the full Senate for the nomination of Brian Montgomery as Federal Housing Administration commissioner.

The legislation and public perceptions of it are expected to play a major role in 2018 elections that will determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday that it plans to reopen its rulemaking for the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and will not assess penalties against mortgage lenders for any errors in data collected in 2018.

Earlier versions of the bill would have caused bigger changes in how Americans finance home purchases, higher education and retirement. Still, the final legislation will have important effects on borrowing and saving decisions.

For decades, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped working-class Americans get mortgages. That essential and powerful role in the national economy is fading.

The government-sponsored enterprises are at the heart of our housing finance problems, not the solutions.

Top officials at the Internal Revenue Service met with mortgage industry groups this week to discuss possible fixes to the agency’s verification system, which lenders rely on to process mortgage loans.

The House vote moved a sharp reduction in the corporate tax rate for banks and other businesses to within a few steps of becoming law.

With tax reform close to the finish line, bankers are still clear winners from the compromise worked out between House and Senate negotiators. But the bill includes some caveats that might give institutions pause.

The Obama administration had tried to ease restrictions on the Federal Housing Administration's condominium program, but the agency under President Trump is seen as moving more aggressively.