Mortgage lobbyists are eager to seize on Republican victories in the House, Senate and White House races, hoping to advance the industry's aims in the next Congress.
President-elect Donald Trump's victory
"He's been very specific," said Rob Zimmer, a principal at Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm TVDC and former lobbyist for Freddie Mac and Community Mortgage Lenders of America. "He believes that there's too much regulation...and this contributed to anemic job growth."
"For lobbying, if you represent small lenders, small business, even midsize banks, you have the wind at your backs now, not at your face," Zimmer added.
The National Association of Home Builders, which offered its
The Mortgage Bankers Association is focused on identifying and reaching out to the "key people who are going to be advising the president," said the David Stevens, the group's president and CEO.
Stevens suggested these would include potential appointees for Cabinet positions such as the attorney general and secretaries of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development, as well as lower-level positions, such as the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance.
The NAHB also plans to make suggestions of names for these roles to the Trump administration, said Howard. For instance, former Rep. Rick Lazio, R-N.Y., would be "a perfectly qualified and excellent choice" for HUD secretary, said Howard.
The next step in the MBA's post-election strategy will be to identify what
"Come the midterms, you often see change," Stevens said. "Right now he's got a majority, he's got the trifecta. He's got a limited time with this structure to get as much done as possible, and he has to decide what those priorities are going to be."
While Republicans retained control of both houses of Congress, in the Senate their majority is "razor thin," said Stevens. And that thin margin will impact how legislation will be passed in that chamber.
"There's likely going to have to be more work done with the Democratic minority with the Senate if you want to get progress made in key areas of housing," Stevens said.
For the Senate to invoke cloture, making a vote filibuster-proof, there must be a 60 vote majority. Without that many votes, certain key issues for the mortgage industry are unlikely to get passed.
"Most Senate floor activity will not move forward unless you get cloture," Zimmer said. "If you want to vaporize Dodd-Frank, you need 60 votes. If you want to reorder the secondary market, you need 60 votes."
Along those lines, a big question left unanswered during this election cycle concerns Trump's relationship with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is expected to succeed Reid as Senate minority leader.
"The president and the Senate minority leader are both from New York City," Zimmer said. "If they ever have a meeting, everyone's going to want to know what they want to talk about. If they come to an agreement, it'll probably get done."
Republican's big night Tuesday could also have some near-term policy implications. For instance, Democrats led by Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., could be motivated to push for structural changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the lame duck session while President Obama remains in office.
"Democrats will embrace a commission structure as fast as they can with the CFPB," Zimmer predicted.
Similarly, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., may push harder to see his
