Key Democrats oppose Fannie-Freddie overhaul
Key Democrats oppose Fannie-Freddie overhaul By Nick Timiraos Bloomberg The Fannie Mae headquarters building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. Talks between top lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee and a group of Democrats seen as key swing votes to advance a bipartisan overhaul of Fannie Mae FNMA +3.37% and Freddie Mac FMCC +3.41% broke down Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter, raising the prospect that the bill won’t advance beyond the committee this year. Lawmakers last week postponed a committee vote on the overhaul bill, unveiled in March by Sens. Tim Johnson (D., S.D.) and Mike Crapo (R., Idaho), the heads of the committee, to wrest more support from the 22-member panel. Lawmakers said last week they could have passed the bill with a narrow majority, but many analysts believe a larger “supermajority” would be needed to compel Sen. Majority Leader Harry Rei...