Bessent: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Conservatorship Exit Not Imminent
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that the federal government wouldn’t be loosening its hold on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac soon.
The two government-sponsored enterprises have been in federal conservatorship since September 2008 because the housing-market collapse left both mortgage-finance companies unstable financially and unable to continue operating safely without government support.
Bessent’s comments were in response to a caller’s question on addressing the status of Fannie and Freddie on The Morning Meeting podcast with Mark Halperin, Kevin Walling, and Larry O’Connor.
The caller, who identified himself as Lloyd, said, “The shareholders would benefit, the economy at large would benefit from an exit from conservatorship, and I’m wondering if there is a plan to address this issue and take the shareholders out of purgatory and benefit all people within the economy in the process.”
Next Year, The Year After, Bessent Says
Bessent told the listeners, “It’s unclear why homeowners or mortgage holders would benefit for a change in the arrangement of the shareholder structure. So whatever we do is going to be guided by making sure that the spread on mortgages … does not increase; that’s our North Star.”
In the past, President Donald Trump has said he wants to take the two companies public.
In May 2025, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he was considering bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back to public ownership.
Going Public
He wrote: “I am giving very serious consideration to bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public.”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been in federal conservatorship since September 2008 because the housing-market collapse left both mortgage-finance companies financially unstable and unable to continue operating safely without government support. They remain in conservatorship because the government has not completed an agreed-upon plan for returning them to private control while protecting taxpayers and preserving a stable supply of mortgage credit.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from lenders, package many of those loans into mortgage-backed securities, and guarantee payments to investors. The system helps banks and other lenders replenish their funds so they can make additional home loans.
Mortgage-Credit Risk
During the housing boom, however, both companies accumulated substantial exposure to mortgage-credit risk.
When home prices plunged, defaults and foreclosures rose, the GSEs’ losses mounted, and their capital proved inadequate. On Sept. 6, 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) placed both companies into conservatorship.
The Treasury Department provided financial backing to prevent their collapse and protect the broader mortgage market.
Both companies remain in conservatorship, and the FHFA and Treasury have taken steps to establish a process for an eventual exit, but that is not the same as approving a completed privatization plan.
The FHFA’s published framework continues to focus on safe operations, capital, and mortgage-market stability.
