President Obama nominated Representative Mel Watt (D-NC) to serve as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on May 1. NLIHC fully supports the nomination of Mr. Watt, who was an early supporter of legislation to create the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF). Mr. Watt has represented the 12th District of North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993. A senior member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, Mr. Watt now awaits confirmation by the Senate, a process that is expected to be contentious. FHFA has been headed by Acting Director Edward DeMarco since 2009. FHFA is the regulator of the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been in a state of conservatorship since 2008. Prior FHFA Director James Lockhart temporarily suspended contributions by the GSEs to NHTF, shortly after it was authorized in 2008. The contributions were suspended, as allowed by statute, because of the precarious financial condition of the GSEs at the time. However, the GSEs reported record profits in 2012. NLIHC contends that contributions should begin immediately. Mr. DeMarco has not yet publicly revisited the suspension.On April 15, Attorneys with Florida Legal Services representing the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Right to the City Alliance sent a letter to Mr. DeMarco demanding that FHFA release funds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the NHTF (see Memo, 4/19). “With Mr. Watt at FHFA, I am confident that the law will be followed and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will start to meet their obligation to contribute to the National Housing Trust Fund,” said NLIHC President and CEO Sheila Crowley in a statement released upon Mr. Watt’s nomination to head FHFA. NLIHC’s statement on the nomination is available at: http://nlihc.org/press/releases/2531