During his confirmation hearing last week, possible Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was asked pointedly about the Trump administration’s plans for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and his answer was not what we expected – because it somewhat goes against his previous comments.

Democratic Senator Mark Warren of Virginia asked Mnuchin about how the Trump administration would handle Fannie and Freddie, specifically about whether he would support “recap and release,” which would see the government sponsored enterprises’ capital buffers (i.e., capital reserves) refilled before being released from conservatorship. Mnuchin said no.

Mnuchin’s statements came as a surprise. As we noted in our recent cover story, in a December interview, Mnuchin explained his position on Fannie and Freddie by saying, “It makes no sense that (Fannie and Freddie) are owned by the government and have been controlled by the government for as long as they have.” He promised that if confirmed, he would pursue a route of policy that saw Fannie and Freddie removed from government control “reasonably fast.” He was clear and concise, and many, including Sen. Warren, took his statements as a show of support for recap and release.

But Mnuchin said his statement had be misread – said that he had never supported recap and release. When asked what he did support, Mnuchin spoke vaguely about rallying bipartisan support for “reform.”

“We need housing reform. We shouldn’t leave Fannie and Freddie alone for the next four or eight years without reform,” he said, offering no specifics. “It is my objective to find a bipartisan solution to housing finance reform.”

Mnuchin was later pushed for more clarity on the matter, which led to him denouncing the status quo as “not acceptable,” and then reiterating his optimism in finding a bipartisan solution – one “where we don’t put the taxpayers at risk and we don’t eliminate capital for the housing market.” Again, he offered no specifics.

One group did respond to the new stance – following Mnuchin’s hearing, Fannie and Freddie’s stock prices plunged more than 10 percent.