A growing chorus of voices across the country is calling for President Obama to replace the acting director of Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Edward J. DeMarco. DeMarco, a holdover from the Bush administration, is responsible for overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. President Obama’s nominee to replace him in 2010 was blocked by Republicans.

DeMarco has prohibited Fannie and Freddie from providing responsible homeowners who are struggling to keep up with their mortgages with access to principal reductions. He has even refused to allow them to participate in the Obama administration’s principal reduction program (HAMP PRA), despite FHFA analysis showing that participating in the program could save $3.6 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and $1 billion for the taxpayers.

The foreclosure crisis just keeps getting worse. More than 12 percent of residential mortgage loans are in foreclosure or at least one payment past due. Millions of homes have been needlessly foreclosed on because banks have not modified homeowners’ mortgages to affordable levels. On top of this misery, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) funding for counseling to prevent foreclosures has been cut to zero.

The top six executives of the two mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, received a combined total of $35.4 million during 2009 and 2010. According to a newly issued report by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the CEOs of both companies alone were paid a shocking $17 million over the past two years.