WASHINGTON, DC-The Senate worked into Saturday's early morning hours to deliver a budget. Part of it singles out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: namely, it would limit lawmakers from using their fees to offset spending increases or tax cuts. (hat tip to the Wall Street Journal).

This is just the latest change made, or proposed, from official Washington regarding the GSEs and as recent history goes, it is relatively benign. While the Senate proposal, if it winds its way into law, will not likely impact the programs' financing, it does illustrate how vulnerable the GSEs are to Congressional tinkering now.

Talk about the GSEs' Raison d'être in general and their role in multifamily finance has been on the agenda in Washington ever since the Federal Housing Finance Agency's announced plans to streamline and shrink its operations. The announcement took the industry by surprise, with reactions ranging from good-it's-about-time to we-can-handle-it to scathing criticism.

It is clear that the pullback by the GSEs will have an impact on pricing and the liquidity of the market as a whole, says Jorge Rosa from Cushman & Wakefield's Multifamily Advisory Group. "We haven't seen that happen yet," he tells GlobeSt.com. "What we have seen is a slight increase in interest rates over the past six months and that has had an impact on some underwriting standards for investors."

How much of the impact the scale back will have will depend on the local market and its multifamily fundamentals. In the DC area, Rosa suggested, the impact will likely be minimal.

"DC has some of the strongest fundamentals market in the nation. "We are still very fundamentally sound and we are still creating jobs. These jobs are facilitating population growth and offering very positive traction," he says.

Author's note: Please see our poll on GlobeSt.com's homepage about the GSEs. We value your opinion!