Freddie Mac has hired Craig Phillips, a former Treasury Department official under the first Trump administration, as executive vice president of corporate strategy and external affairs.
Phillips will work with the company’s leadership, the GSE said in a press release, “to support the dynamic evolution of the company’s strategy” and oversee external affairs efforts, to include regulatory and conservatorship affairs and initiatives, marketing, public relations, industry engagement, and corporate communications.
Phillips, who has served in leadership roles at investment bank and financial services firm Morgan Stanley and asset manager Blackrock, will join Freddie Mac effective Jan. 14.
As a Treasury official, The New York Times noted Phillips had been hired “to fix Fannie [Mae] and Freddie [Mac],” but returned to the private sector. He was counselor to then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin between 2017 and 2019, serving in the capacity of Under Secretary for domestic finance.
When he left his role, the Wall Street Journal described him as “the Trump administration point person for financial deregulation.”
Politico has quoted Phillips from a 2019 financial policy event as suggesting affordable housing initiatives at the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) overlap with those already offered through government housing programs, suggesting that affordable housing priorities needn’t be tied to the GSEs.
“If there’s one thing that’s particularly maddening to me," Politico quotes Phillips as saying, "it is [that] there’s such a fight about the housing goals at Fannie and Freddie and how they support low- and moderate-income borrowers – but obviously the FHA and the VA and the USDA are providing all of this federal support for those same borrowers.”
“The transformation of Freddie Mac over the last 15 years has been significant, and I am looking forward to joining a strong management team to help support the company’s sustained progress and success,” Phillips said in today's press release. “I hope to make a strong contribution to Freddie Mac that leaves the company in a better position and strengthens the housing finance system.”
Diana Reid, CEO of Freddie Mac, noted that she expects Phillips “to hit the ground running, working closely with me to develop Freddie Mac’s corporate strategy and leading engagement across a diverse array of stakeholders.”
“In short,” Reid added, “Craig Phillips will help Freddie Mac better serve its mission of providing liquidity, stability, and affordability to the housing market every day and in every corner of the nation.”
