US views reshaping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

he US government is considering an overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and placing the firms' toxic assets in a new federal home-loan corporation.

According to the Washington Post, the White House's National Economic Council is scheduled to take up the proposal on Thursday, even though the idea is said to be in the early stages of development.

"It should come as no surprise that the administration is thinking through" these changes," Andrew Williams, a Treasury Department spokesman told the Washington Post. "We are in the preliminary stage of the process, the systematic development of options has not taken place, and no decisions have been made."

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have government charters to buy home mortgages from banks, which they then repackage and sell to investors. Together, the two mortgage firms support 40 percent of all US home loans.

The giants became symbols for the financial downturn when they were nationalized in September amid a market crisis that exposed the majority of their holdings to be troubled. The US government has since vowed more than $1.5 trillion to keep the mortgage market working through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.