Although the Republican party line on housing finance reform has been almost entirely focused on full privatization, Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) crossed the aisle to drop a bill with Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI) that left intact a role for the federal government. On Thursday, the two members introduced H.R. 1859, which would replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a number of private companies that would issue mortgage-backed securities with the full backing of the federal government. House Financial Services Chair Spencer Bachus (R-AL) stated that there is a “difference of opinion,” and in the past has said that his committee’s goal is to report out a bill sponsored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (H.R. 1182), which would privatize the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) fully within 5 years. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) also introduced another package of smaller, leadership-supported bills that would gradually phase out Fannie and Freddie. Considering this lack of agreement within the GOP, let alone across party lines, we do not expect GSE reform to occur anytime in the near future.