© NY Times 2010

Under pressure from Congress, the Obama administration is taking a tentative first step in developing a plan to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the huge mortgage-finance companies that the government took over in 2008.

On April 15, the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development will publish a list of questions seeking comment on the appropriate role of the government in housing policy and housing finance, as well as the design of mortgage products and protections for consumers who use them.

The government has so far spent $126 billion bailing out Fannie and Freddie. Republican criticism over the absence of a plan for the institutions escalated when the White House released a budget in January that said only that the administration “continues to monitor the situation.” Read more.