Trump picks Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury Secretary. One of Mnuchin’s first goals will be to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
President-elect Donald J. Trump’s decision to pick Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner, as the next Treasury Secretary is driving hopes on Wall Street that government sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be privatized in the new administration. “We’ve got to get them out of government control,” Mnuchin told Fox Business Network on Wednesday morning as he was picked by Trump to be his Treasury Secretary.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were bailed out to the tune of $188 billion during the financial crisis and put into government conservatorship as their portfolios of home loans soured during the credit crunch. Since the crisis both firms have sat in a legal limbo.
Via Forbes