Major federal leadership roles are getting closer to being filled, as the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing Thursday, hearing testimony from nominees for four positions.
The committee, led by senators Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., heard from Frank Cassidy, the nominee for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner and assistant secretary of housing. It also heard from Joseph Gormley, the nominee to be the next president of government-owned mortgage corporation Ginnie Mae.
Gormley didn’t have any questions directed to him after his opening testimony, where he said he would draw on all his experience “to ensure the organization fulfills its mission of providing low-cost financing and ultimately making the American Dream of homeownership more accessible and affordable for the American people.”
Since April, Cassidy has served as principal deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), overseeing the department’s Office of Housing and the FHA’s $1.75 trillion mortgage insurance portfolio consisting of single-family, multifamily, manufactured housing and senior/health care properties.
“I joined HUD after spending my entire career in the private sector, where I financed billions of dollars working with owners of multifamily, senior housing, and health care properties,” Cassidy said. “That experience, working with lenders, developers and operators, gave me a deep appreciation for the role FHA plays in supporting housing production and access to credit.”
He did face questions from committee members, particularly from Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., who pressed Cassidy on the administration’s reduction-in-force (RIF) layoffs in early October, which included more than 400 employees of HUD. She called it “a huge impact” on the office of housing counseling and asked how the layoffs support the shared goal of expanding access of homeownership.
Cassidy said he couldn’t discuss the RIFs since they are under litigation, but that housing is “very much a local issue,” and that “we believe that local leaders on the ground, nonprofits, understand the issues that work in their jurisdiction. That’s what we are focused on.”
The majority of the questions were directed to Cassidy and to Paul Hollis, the nominee to be director of the U.S. Mint. The other nominee involved in the hearing was Travis Hill, the pick to be chairman of the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
While the nominations are being considered, the National Reverse Lenders Association sent a letter to the committee from its president, Steve Irwin, expressing strong support for both candidates.
“The two positions for which these nominees have been selected — president of Ginnie Mae and assistant secretary at HUD — form the backbone of the federal housing finance architecture that supports the financial well-being of millions of older Americans,” Irwin stated. “Swift confirmation of both Mr. Gormley and Mr. Cassidy is essential to provide stable leadership and direction to these critical agencies.”
On Tuesday, Buddy Hughes, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, issued a statement encouraging the Senate to move quickly to confirm Cassidy, citing his strong background in real estate finance.
Hughes issued a separate statement of support for Gormley’s nomination, calling him the “ideal candidate to lead Ginnie Mae and maintain confidence and liquidity in the secondary mortgage market.”
