Among a list of seven nominations made by President Joe Biden this week were a pair of names related to the regulation of the United States’ housing market: Julie Gordon, nominee for federal housing commissioner, and Dave Uejio, nominee for assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
Gordon has a history of involvement with housing regulation, specializing in federal policy related to homeownership, community development and the residential finance system. She managed the single-family policy team at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) from 2011 to 2012 and was part of the team that reviewed the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and FHFA during the transfer of power to the Biden administration.
Currently, she serves as president of the National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST), a nonprofit supporting neighborhood revitalization and affordable homeownership through rehabilitating residential properties in underserved markets.
Previously, Gordon has served as the senior director of housing and consumer finance at the Center for American Progress, as well as senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. She also has worked in the civil legal aid sector and as a litigation associate and pro bono coordinator at the law firm of WilmerHale. She received her bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Mortgage Bankers Association President Bob Broeksmit praised the nomination.
“Her previous experience, which includes senior roles at the National Community Stabilization Trust and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, provides her with a unique perspective on the issues facing our nation’s housing and mortgage markets,” he said.
Uejio, meanwhile, has served as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) since January. His nomination may mean that the White House is optimistic that Federal Trade Commission (FTC) head Rohit Chopra, its initial choice for full-time director of the CFPB, is ready to be confirmed by Congress; his confirmation has been waylaid so far both by a partisan snarl in the closely divided Senate and by Democratic concerns that moving Chopra to a new post without naming his successor would leave the FTC in Republican control.
Prior to becoming CFPB acting director, Uejio served several leadership posts under its umbrella, including acting chief of staff, lead for talent acquisition and, most recently, chief strategy officer. He has a long track record in government service, starting in 2006 as a Presidential Management Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has also served in human resources capacities at the NIH, the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
