Republican lawmakers say they will seek changes at the financially troubled Federal Housing Administration as a first step toward a broader overhaul of the U.S. government role in housing finance.
The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the role of the FHA, the first in a series of panels that may lead to legislation that would shrink the government mortgage insurer’s market share and shore up its bottom line. That is a more urgent priority than winding down government-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy mortgages from lenders and securitize them, lawmakers said.
