Dodd Meets With Paulson, Announces Hearing On Fannie And Freddie

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd on Capitol Hill Monday afternoon, a day after the federal government announced a major bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Speaking to reporters Monday evening, Dodd said it was “a private meeting” and declined to offer any specifics. However, the Connecticut Democrat seemed more diplomatic when discussing Paulson’s actions than earlier in the day, when he said on a conference call with reporters that he felt mislead by the administration over their actions.

On Friday evening, Dodd said he was “not necessarily” blindsided by the announcement and said he felt Paulson understands that the two mortgage giants cannot be allowed to fail.

Dodd also said he will hold a committee hearing on the matter “early next week.” Dodd said he would have liked to examine the issue this week, but it wasn’t logisiticaly possible to pull together a hearing on such short notice.