The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted Wednesday to advance four nominees of President Donald Trump to fill senior positions across the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of the Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC).
Frank Cassidy, who has served as principal deputy assistant secretary at HUD since April, passed in a nearly party-line vote, 14 to 10, for his nomination to become FHA commissioner and assistant secretary of housing. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., was the sole Democratic member to join Republicans in advancing his nomination.
Cassidy, who has been overseeing the Office of Housing and the $1.75 trillion mortgage insurance portfolio of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), will now advance to a full Senate vote.
Joseph Gormley, Trump’s nominee to be the next president of government-owned mortgage aggregator Ginnie Mae, passed along party lines in a vote of 13 to 11, with nine of the 11 Democratic members casting their opposition votes in absentia.
Mortgages insured by the Department of Veteran Affairs or FHA comprise most of the loans securitized by Ginnie Mae, but its issuance also supports housing finance provided through HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service.
David M. Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference, applauded the outcome of Wednesday’s votes, saying in a statement that Cassidy and Gormley bring “exceptional expertise, judgment and commitment to the critical work of strengthening our nation’s housing and financial systems.”
The Mortgage Bankers Association said in a statement that it “strongly supports the nominations of Frank Cassidy and Joe Gormley and urges the full Senate to move quickly to confirm them.”
Sen. Tim Scott, R.-S.C., chair of the banking committee, said in opening remarks that the leadership of Cassidy and Gormley “will help ensure that housing finance remains accessible and sustainable and will expand opportunities for families who aspire to own their own home.”
Paul Hollis advanced along party lines as Trump’s nominee to be director of the U.S. Mint, while current acting chairman of the FDIC, Travis Hill, advanced along party lines for a full vote on his nomination to the permanent role.
The four faced the banking committee Oct. 30 when members questioned the nominees on their visions for their respective agencies.
Cassidy in particular faced contention questioning from Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., who asked how the Trump administration’s reduction-in-force (RIF) layoffs at HUD during the government shutdown supported a shared goal of expanding access of homeownership.
Fair housing offices, staff and programs have been gutted across federal agencies during Trump’s second term, from HUD to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the Federal Housing Finance Agency that regulates government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Cassidy said he couldn’t discuss the RIFs since they are under litigation.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Senate committee vote, ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D.-Mass., released what she described as “troubling responses” to written questions the committee had asked each nominee to address.
Of Gormley’s responses she drew attention to his reluctance to speculate on impacts from potential reprivatization of Fannie and Freddie and how he “pointedly refused to answer whether he had signed a loyalty pledge to President Trump.”
Warren drew attention to Cassidy’s “support for the Trump administration’s plans to eliminate the federal housing rental assistance budget,” which would likely force states to step into that role, as well as Cassidy’s elimination of language access requirements.
She also noted that Cassidy refused to answer whether he had signed a loyalty pledge to Trump.
