Note, this answer contains no proprietary information and is based only on information that is publicly available.It really depends who you ask. Hereu2019s the current situation:Fannie and Freddie are in conservatorship by the Federal government. Itu2019s not quite ownership though it is similar.Fannie and Freddie are profitable. Fannie Mae just announced a 2.8 billion profit in Q1. Iu2019m sure Freddie Mac had a similarly positive quarter unless there were accounting issues.All profits that Fannie and Freddie make go to the Treasury. In addition, they are required to reduce their u201ccapital cushionu201d to zero by 2023. That means that not only do they send all their profits to the Federal government, but a portion of their retained capital.If Fannie or Freddie has a loss during a quarter, the Treasury will be on the hook for that loss, up to, I believe, about $250 billion.Investors want F&F free so that they can reap the rewards of their investments. The reason the stock prices of F&F are so low right now ($2u20133/share) is because of conservatorship and the uncertainty of their future as independent companies.Many in the government want to remove the government from the equation because they donu2019t want to the government on the hook for potential losses if there should be another downturn. To these people, you can add those that want to wind down F&F completely to eliminate any perceived backing by the government.Employees likely want more certainty in the future of the companies.As for the general public, I donu2019t think most people care one way or the other. Those that do generally seem to want them shuttered, though often have misperceptions about F&Fu2019s role in the financial crisis or the implications of closing the companies.