Fannie Mae-No Politics (FNMA)

[Barrario]

Lyle W. Cayce 
Clerk of Court United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 
600 S. Maestri Place New Orleans, LA 70130-3408 
[phone] Fax [phone] 

Re: Collins v. Federal Housing Finance Agency, No. 17-20364 

Dear Mr. Cayce: 

It is no coincidence that since the current President took office 
the Department of Justice has had one position on FHFA’s constitutionality and 
FHFA has had three. 

FHFA’s latest switch, prompted once again by a change in leadership at the 
agency, only further underscores how this agency’s novel structure places vast
executive power in the hands of a single individual who is wholly unaccountable 
to the President. 

Humphrey’s Executor blessed the FTC’s independence because in that case 
independence—combined with leadership from a commission whose members 
serve staggered terms—was thought to promote continuity and expertise at the 
agency. 

In FHFA’s case, independence achieves the opposite of continuity by leaving 
critical policy decisions up to the whim of whichever individual happens to sit 
atop the organizational chart of an agency that answers to no one. 

FHFA was right the second time, not the first or the third. 

Respectfully submitted, 

/s/ David H. Thompson David H. Thompson