New housing subcommittee head promises policy rollbacks

Sen. Katie Britt, R. -Ala., announced Thursday that she will chair the Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development as Republicans gain influence in Washington.

Britt, who has been a key proponent of the Road to Housing Act backed by Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R.-S.C., indicated her position on housing issues will be in line with a broader party focus on supply and deregulation. She said will work with Ranking Member Tina Smith, D.-Minn., to move it forward.

The subcommittee is influential in the mortgage industry because its oversight extends to servicing and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD holds sway over sizable government-insured primary and secondary mortgage markets. 

"Every U.S. citizen deserves access to affordable housing, reliable transit, and ultimately, the ability to achieve their American dream," Britt said in a press release. "I look forward to working under the leadership of Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott and with my subcommittee Ranking Member."

Based on the narrow Senate approval of new HUD Secretary Scott Turner in a 13-11 vote split, it appears the thin margin the party has is still enough to overcome objections from Democrats and engage in what Britt has called rollbacks of "costly leftwing regulations" at the Federal Housing Administration and elsewhere.

The subcommittee chair said she would look to end "longstanding inefficiencies within our federal housing and transit agencies," and explore "innovative ways to increase the country's housing stock."

The sentiments are in line with an executive order President Trump issued on his first day in office that called for more housing supply and lower costs. The executive order attributed 25% of the expenses incurred in building a new home to regulation. Due to the transition in power, he's sought to put pre-existing policy changes on hold.

On Friday, the Mortgage Bankers Association asked Trump to put a hold on pending Consumer Financial Protection Bureau requirements related to a new nonbank registry.

Republican legislative proposals for full policy rollbacks, which Congress is increasingly prioritizing as the GOP takes control, include a bill introduced earlier this month by Rep. Stephanie Bice R-Okla. This legislation aims to reverse pricing changes implemented in 2023 by major government-backed mortgage buyers.

Several prior Republican bills attempted to do this, with one sponsored by Rep. Patrick McHenry, R.-N.C., passing in the House. But with Democrats in control of the Senate at that time, it did not advance into law.

Several Republicans have asserted that the second round of pricing changes that more broadly modernized the government-sponsored enterprises' full grids than a previous adjustment had, go too far in tilting the scales in favor of low-income borrowers at the expense of those from the middle-class.

Sandra Thompson, the former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the GSEs, said the price changes were in line with precedent and misunderstood. Thompson resigned earlier this month. (The enterprises control a separate market outside of HUD's.)

Bill Pulte, the head of an investment firm and grandson of an influential homebuilding executive, is the current nominee for FHFA chief.  He is expected to work with Scott Bessent, Trump's nominee at the Department of the Treasury, to end the GSEs' long-running government conservatorship.

At the time of this writing, the Bice bill had been referred to the House Financial Services Committee.

Rep. French Hill, R.-Ark., received the Republican steering committee's endorsement to chair that committee in December.