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July 09, 2014

Senate set to vote on Castro for HUD secretary

July 9, 2014 – The Senate is scheduled to vote today on the president's nomination of San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Voting on Castro's and two other nominations is slated to begin at noon, with a roll-call vote on Castro expected.

In June, Castro told the Senate Banking Committee he shares the panel's goals of protecting taxpayers and continuing access to mortgage credit in housing finance reform.

Without backing any specific legislative proposal, Castro told the committee he thinks taxpayers should have more protection than they have now under the current structure for government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He also said the GSEs' current situation is unsustainable and that private capital should be in the first-loss position.

Castro, if confirmed, would replace Shaun Donovan, who has been nominated to head the Office of Management and Budget. Donovan's nomination has also been favorably reported to the Senate and awaits a vote on confirmation.

NAFCU has been in ongoing discussions with key lawmakers, HUD, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and White House and other administration officials on the future of housing finance. The association is working to ensure any reform plan provides credit unions unfettered access to the secondary market for mortgage loans as well as fair pricing based not on loan volume, but loan underwriting quality.