WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Top U.S. Republican and
Democratic officials skirmished on Sunday over the timing of a
vote on extending tax cuts, seeking an edge ahead November
congressional elections likely to be dominated by job anxiety.

After Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of
Representatives left open the possibility a vote will be
delayed past Nov. 2 midterm elections, Republicans shot back
that doing so would only add to voters’ economic uncertainty.

WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of
Representatives voted on Thursday to extend for a year a
troubled program that insures more than 5.5 million homes and
businesses against floods, sending the measure to President
Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it into law.

The National Flood Insurance Program has been deeply in
debt since the costly hurricanes of 2004 and 2005. Repeated
efforts in Congress to overhaul it have failed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The powerful congressional committee that oversees the financial sector, which has had a contentious relationship with Wall Street, could change its tenor considerably if Republicans win big in the November elections.

The irascible Barney Frank could possibly be ousted as chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee by the mild-mannered Spencer Bachus.

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Congress was on track to
temporarily extend within days a troubled program that insures
millions of U.S. homes and businesses against floods, with
another push for a broad overhaul looking likely next year.

The Senate on Tuesday approved an extension through Sept.
30, 2011, of the National Flood Insurance Program, which has
been deeply in debt ever since the costly hurricane seasons of
2004 and 2005. Repeated efforts to fix it have failed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chipping away at the Obama administration’s biggest legislative achievements — healthcare and Wall Street reform — will be the top goal for Republicans after the November 2 congressional election, three of the party’s senior senators said.

With voters expected to sweep more Republicans into Congress in November, the senior senators targeted particular aspects of President Barack Obama’s two major reforms but acknowledged that wholesale repeals were not on the cards.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The political landscape is shifting and Senator Richard Shelby, a senior Republican, is sizing up his chances of recapturing the chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee, a move Wall Street might welcome.

“I’d like to be chairman of the Banking Committee. For that to happen, the rivers have got to run together, and they could. I wouldn’t say they’re not because I’m hopeful,” the slow-talking Alabama lawyer told the Reuters Washington Summit.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke favors privatizing troubled U.S. mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said Republican Senator Richard Shelby on Monday.

Shelby, speaking at the Reuters Washington Summit, said he discussed the issue of overhauling the U.S. housing finance market as recently as Friday with Bernanke.

WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke favors privatizing troubled U.S. mortgage finance
giants Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said
Republican Senator Richard Shelby on Monday.

Shelby, speaking at the Reuters Washington Summit, said he
discussed the issue of overhauling the U.S. housing finance
market as recently as Friday with Bernanke.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government’s role in housing finance should undergo “fundamental change,” but it should still provide some guarantees in the mortgage market, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday.

Setting the stage for what promises to be a long debate about fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Geithner convened a conference of housing industry leaders and heard a range of ideas about reforms for the $10.7 trillion mortgage market.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration will pick the brains of housing finance leaders on Tuesday on how to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but no major changes in the government-rescued mortgage companies are expected before 2011.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will host a conference as the administration works to make good on its promise to unveil an overhaul plan by January for the troubled firms, now under government control.