On Thursday morning, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville announced that the San Francisco offices of the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, would be relocated to Birmingham.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an early Christmas present for the great people of Alabama,\u201d Tuberville said in a video<\/a> posted to his official social media accounts.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks to the leadership of President Trump and Federal Housing Director Bill Pulte, Fannie Mae is immediately leaving woke California for sweet home Alabama,\u201d he continued. \u201cFannie Mae is one of the biggest mortgage financers in the world. Relocating Fannie Mae from San Francisco to Birmingham will not only save the taxpayers money, but it will bring jobs and opportunities to our state.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBirmingham used to be the financial capital of the South and this is an important step to making Birmingham boom again,\u201d the senator noted.<\/p>\n Governor Kay Ivey also praised the announced move in a public statement Thursday night. \u201cAs I have long said Alabama is not California, and that is a good thing,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI could not be more excited for Fannie Mae\u2019s move to Birmingham.\u201d<\/p>\n Founded in 1938 as a New Deal program, Fannie Mae and its counterpart Freddie Mac purchase mortgages from banks in order to repackage and guarantee them. By increasing liquidity in the housing finance market, the two bodies help stabilize and reduce interest rates on mortgages.<\/p>\n As a consequence of their key roles in the national housing market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are both two of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States.<\/p>\n Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.<\/p>\n Both have also been under the conservatorship<\/a> of the Federal Housing Finance Authority since the 2008 financial crisis. Fannie Mae Chairman William Pulte recently stated<\/a> that the conservatorships would continue for the immediate future, despite ongoing plans in the Trump administration to sell $30 billion in shares<\/a> of both companies.<\/p>\n In a press release issued yesterday by Senator Tuberville\u2019s office, Pulte confirmed that \u201cthanks to President Trump and our collaboration with and confidence in Senator Tuberville, Fannie Mae\u2019s San Francisco Office will be relocating to Birmingham, Alabama.\u201d<\/p>\n