The Trump administration said Thursday it supports the privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a pair of massive government-supported companies that back about half of all mortgages in the U.S. The federal government assumed control of Fannie and Freddie in 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis, which was triggered by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. Trump’s plan drew immediate fire from Democratic leaders. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, tweeted, “President Trump’s housing plan will make mortgages more expensive and harder to get. I’m urging the President: Make it easier for working people to buy or rent their homes, not harder.”