ICE’s Courtenay Dunn outlines deregulatory housing priorities

Trump administration officials and housing industry leaders are pushing a deregulatory agenda that’s focused on reducing costs, modernizing financial regulations, and strengthening U.S. dominance in energy, artificial intelligence and digital assets, according to a discussion Wednesday at HousingWire’s The Gathering in Austin.

Speaking with HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler, Courtenay Dunn, senior director of government affairs for Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), said the administration’s housing priorities have remained consistent despite a crowded policy agenda in Washington.

“The two priorities across the administration from day one have been a deregulatory agenda and an overall focus on reducing costs,” Dunn said.

She added that “the elimination of fraud, waste and abuse” has also been a key theme.

Dunn pointed to ongoing efforts around mortgage credit score modernization as part of a broader push to lower costs for homeowners. This traces back to legislation advanced during President Donald Trump’s first administration that was sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)

The administration’s broader economic agenda of the present day extends beyond housing, Dunn told the audience. It includes “American energy dominance,” artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital assets.

Dunn added that energy policy has direct implications for housing through supply chains, construction costs, electricity pricing and homeownership expenses.

“I mean, data centers, grid issues, anything that involves electricity or just the actual cost of not only building but owning a home, because there’s cost involved in owning a home too,” she said. “We focus so much on the discussion about buying a home, but there’s certainly a litany of costs that are associated with owning a home.

“All of those factor into energy dominance,” Dunn said, adding that the administration also wants the U.S. to control the financial markets tied to commodities and energy pricing rather than relying on foreign competitors such as China.

The conversation also highlighted congressional efforts to establish clearer rules for digital assets through legislation such as the CLARITY Act, a bill that would establish a regulatory framework for digital commodities. Dunn said the administration wants the U.S. to lead globally in financial technology and artificial intelligence while ensuring consistent regulatory standards.

“We want to make sure that there are regulatory rails around the use of digital assets,” she said.

Cybersecurity has emerged as another major focus area for federal agencies, according to Dunn, who said officials from the Department of the Treasury, the White House and financial regulators have been coordinating through a series of roundtables to examine AI innovation, fraud prevention and risk mitigation.

“I can’t actually think of something that’s more important than cybersecurity,” Dunn said, describing the issue as critical to both national security and the financial system.

Dunn also noted bipartisan interest in modernizing older financial laws and parts of the regulatory framework established after the 2008 financial crisis. She said many existing rules were written decades before today’s data-driven financial systems emerged.

At the same time, she cautioned that regulatory overhauls can take years to implement because agencies must conduct formal rulemaking processes and companies need time to operationalize changes.

“Mortgage as an asset class is one of the most complex regulatory classes there is,” Dunn said. “If you pull one string, it does something else.”

The panel also touched on the growing role of prediction markets and alternative data platforms in financial decision-making. Dunn pointed to ICE’s recent $600 million investment in the prediction market platform Polymarket and maintains relationships with firms focused on retail market sentiment.

She said investors are increasingly seeking real-time information to guide hedging strategies, capital allocation and market analysis, including in housing.

“People want as much information as they can to make decisions,” Dunn said. “The more information all of us have to understand what’s going on in the markets, the more transparency I think is really welcomed.”