The Senate on Thursday voted 56-42 to proceed to vote on Rep. Mel Watt’s (D-NC) nomination to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, short of the 60-vote filibuster-proof threshold needed to advance to a final vote.
Almost every Republican voted against proceeding to Watt’s nomination, who would head an agency carrying regulatory control over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday that the White House hopes Republicans reconsider their vote, calling the filibuster “enormously disappointing.”
