Couple days after naming Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx as his new transportation secretary, President Obama is set to name Rep. Mel Watt as the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, aka head of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

Mr. Watt looks certain to face a confirmation fight. A prior White House nominee for the position, Joseph A. Smith Jr., a North Carolina banking commissioner, failed to win the support of the Senate.

…Still, Mr. Watt is well known in Congress, and sits on the powerful House Financial Services Committee. He is also known for promoting lending to low-income and minority borrowers, but is not considered unfriendly to banks: financial firms and insurers are among his biggest donors, in no small part because Charlotte, part of which is in Mr. Watt’s district, is a major banking center. Should Mr. Watt fail to win Senate confirmation, the White House could name him as a recess appointment.

NYT notes that as the housing market stabilizes, “what to do with Fannie and Freddie – and what role the government should be playing in the mortgage market more broadly – look certain to become more hotly contested issues.” Don’t hold your breath —seems to me it’s clear the president is content to simply run the clock out on his term. Problem is we’ve got a long way to go.