A new ad from a union-led coalition is calling on President Trump to free mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from their government conservatorship in a bid to boost housing production.
The “Remember Us?” spot features Bethpage firefighters, who Trump visited during a trip to Long Island in 2018, asking the president to release the home loan buying giants from under federal control, arguing it would help build housing for first responders and construction workers.
“Like a lot of places these days, the middle-class is struggling to afford housing here on Long Island,” said John Castles, the fire chief who spoke with Trump during his visit and who is featured in the ad.
“It’s hurting fire departments across Long Island as our younger members cannot afford to live in the communities where they grew up,” Castles said. “We are counting on President Trump, who has been a champion for the middle-class, to deliver for us.”
The president has said he was “very seriously” weighing moving to release the mortgage finance giants from their federal government oversight, and has floated doing an initial public offering this year.
The non-partisan group of unions, dubbed the Housing for US coalition, believes that freeing the companies from the conservatorship — which began in 2008 after the subprime housing mortgage crisis — would unlock $250 billion that could be used to help create up to 3.5 million housing units across the country.
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to responsibly release Fannie and Freddie and invest the $250 billion the federal government will reap back into America’s forgotten middle class,” said Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and a member of the coalition.
“We can build millions of homes for American workers, by American workers,” he said.
An estimate from James Thorne, chief market strategist at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth, found that up to $8 trillion in liabilities could be wiped from the federal balance sheet by a sale.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, but Trump said at a press briefing that he was still considering declaring a national emergency over the housing crisis.
“I want to take care of the people that have houses that have a value, you know, to the house that they never though possible that have sort of made them wealthy and happy,” he said.
“At the same time, I want to make it possible for people to go buy houses.”
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