House tightens lender oversight

WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday approved tighter oversight of the two largest buyers of home mortgages.

The legislation, passed by a 331-90 vote, would rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that combine to finance or guarantee more than three-quarters of U.S. home mortgages. The White House opposes the legislation because it would not force the mortgage companies, both beset by accounting scandals, to reduce their investment holdings.

The bill would create a stronger federal regulator with authority over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as the Federal Home Loan Banks, a nationwide system of 12 banks that provide money to home lenders in local communities. It also calls for the companies to devote a small percentage of their annual profits to financing housing for the poor.

Loans, child-support

programs face cuts

House Republicans voted to cut student loan subsidies, child-support enforcement and aid to companies hurt by unfair trade practices as various committees scrambled to piece together $50 billion in budget cuts.

More politically difficult votes — to cut Medicaid, food stamps and farm subsidies — could come today as more panels weigh in on the bill. It was originally intended to cut $35 billion in spending over five years, but after pressure from conservatives, GOP leaders directed committees to cut an additional $15 billion to help pay the cost of hurricane recovery.

President Bush appeared to endorse House Speaker Dennis Hastert's plan for an across-the-board cut in agency budgets, perhaps including the Pentagon, by the end of the year.

Home-heat program aid proposal fails

An effort to provide more money for the federal home-heating program failed in the Senate on Wednesday.

Senators voted 54-43 in favor of a proposal to boost the fiscal 2006 budget for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program from $2.2 billion to $5.1 billion.

But that was six votes short of the 60-vote majority needed to approve new spending not coupled with equivalent spending cuts.

Lawyers must be told before strikers are fed

Lawyers for hunger-striking terrorism suspects at the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba must be notified before any of their clients are fed against their will, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. The government also must provide the lawyers of force-fed detainees with their clients' medical records dating to one week before the start of involuntary feeding.

In a victory for the government, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler denied the lawyers' request for the detainees to be in contact by telephone with their lawyers, relatives and friends. At an Oct. 14 hearing before Kessler, Justice Department lawyer Terry Henry argued against such contacts, citing possible security risks.

Twenty-four detainees are on hunger strike, including seven who are being force-fed.

DeLay says he didn't note all contributions

Rep. Tom DeLay has notified House officials that he failed to disclose all contributions to his legal defense fund as required by congressional rules.

The Texas Republican, who has been indicted on charges of money laundering and campaign-finance violations, wrote to House officials that an audit found that $20,850 contributed in 2000 and 2001 to the defense fund was not reported.

An additional $17,300 was included in the defense fund's quarterly report but not in DeLay's 2000 financial disclosure report. Other donations were understated as totaling $2,800 when the figure should have been $4,450.

Compiled from The Associated Press