Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and congressional Democrats blasted the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Tuesday after the regulator announced it would not allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offer loan principal reductions to struggling homeowners, as tensions over how to improve the sluggish housing market remain high before the November elections.

Democrats have been pressuring the FHFA, the independent agency in charge of overseeing the taxpayer supported mortgage giants, for months to back off its opposition to allowing Fannie and Freddie to provide some debt forgiveness to homeowners.

 The regulator’s acting director, Edward DeMarco, has been unmoved by their arguments, and has infuriated some Democrats.

Read More: Politico