Alanna McCargo, who was first named by President Joe Biden as his nominee to serve as the president of the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA, or “Ginnie Mae”) in September, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a voice vote to assume her new role.
McCargo, who previously served as vice president of the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center to Marketplace, moved to a role within the Biden administration at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as senior advisor for housing finance earlier this year. Much of her career has been centered on questions of housing equality, including how the housing finance system can more equitably provide assistance to stakeholders who would be most affected by the additional assistance that HUD is able to provide to vulnerable populations.
The reverse mortgage industry looks forward to engaging with McCargo during her upcoming tenure, according to a statement from National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) President Steve Irwin.
“NRMLA commends the Senate for confirming Alanna McCargo as the next President of Ginnie Mae,” Irwin said in a statement distributed by the association. “It has been more than four years since Ginnie Mae last had a permanent president, so her confirmation comes at a critical time when we need someone with solid leadership skills and a keen understanding of the public/private nature of the HECM program at the helm. We look forward to working with Alanna and her management team in the coming year on important HMBS issues.”
Also expressing congratulations was David M. Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference (NHC) who also said that McCargo will be best positioned for success by addressing any personnel deficiencies in the government’s housing arm, including filling the position of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner through the confirmation of the president’s nominee, Julia Gordon, for that position.
“Ms. McCargo will succeed as Ginnie Mae President if she has the support of a fully-staffed team at the Department of Housing and Urban Development,” Dworkin said. “In particular, it is crucial that the head of the agency tasked with insuring government-backed mortgages has a capable and Senate-confirmed counterpart at the Federal Housing Administration. For that reason, I call on the Senate to confirm Julia Gordon’s nomination for FHA Commissioner as soon as possible.”
Gordon was first nominated to become FHA Commissioner in June.
The position of Ginnie Mae president has not had a permanent appointee since 2017, when Ted Tozer resigned from the position effective on January 20, 2017 when President Donald Trump was sworn into office. Tozer was nominated for the position in 2009 shortly after Barack Obama became president. Michael Bright was appointed interim president of Ginnie Mae by President Trump who also nominated him for the full-time position, but Bright abruptly resigned and saw Maren Kasper take his place as interim president.
Kasper herself also abruptly resigned to take a job in the private sector in late 2019, reportedly after another Trump administration official — Lynne Patton — attempted to have Kasper removed from the administration according to reporting at the Washington Post. After President Trump left office, Patton was later found to have violated government ethics rules for her involvement in the creation of a political video which was only made possible during production through her government credentials, and she was barred from government employment for four years.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA).
