Layton pointed out the pendulum had swung in the other direction in the second quarter.

“In the prior quarter, we had the opposite result with a $1.5 billion positive contribution to earnings as rates rose significantly,” he said.

Layton said the losses did not reflect the strong fundamentals he said characterize the company's core business. He also emphasized the losses represented only a small slice of the company's $1.8 billion in reserves and that the U.S. government has made a profit on the firm.

“Finally, as this loss was just a fraction of the $1.8 billion net worth reserve we have under the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement, no U.S. Treasury draw was needed, so total dividends paid remains unchanged at $96.5 billion, $25 billion more than we have received,” he said.

However, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) took a dim view of the news and declared the loss signaled the two GSEs were endangering taxpayer funds again.

“Losses like this combined with multimillion dollar CEO salaries at the GSEs are the warning shots of a return to the pre-crisis model of private gains and public losses that wrecked the economy,” Royce said. “We can't simply put the blinders on and say that Fannie and Freddie are just like other companies when taxpayers are on the hook if they go in the red.”

Royce sponsored a measure that would roll back CEO salaries at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to their prior levels. The House Financial Services Committee approved the bill by a 57-1 vote in late July and the full House may take it up later this month, according to the congressman.