The House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday passed theProtecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act by a vote of30-27.

The bill, which now faces a vote on the floor of the House,would eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and largely privatizethe secondary mortgage market.

For the most part, voting ran along party lines, withRepublicans voting for the bill and Democrats voting against it.Two exceptions were Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.), who is vice chairman of thecommittee, and Rep. Mike Fitzgerald (R-Pa.), who both voted againstthe bill. Their media representatives did not respond to requestsfor comment.

Reps. John Campbell (R-Calif.), Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), JohnDelaney (D-Md.) and Mel Watt (D-N.C.) did not vote.

Watt's abstained vote wasn't unexpected, as he awaits Senateconfirmation to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, whichoversees Fannie and Freddie and would be eliminated by thebill.

“The passage of this legislation today is a critical step inreforming our nation's housing finance system and ensuring theAmerican taxpayers no longer have to fund $200 billion bailouts,”said Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), lead sponsor of the bill andchairman of the Capital Markets and Government SponsoredEnterprises subcommittee.

The bill now faces a full House vote. Although the legislationpassed the Republican-majority committee, it faces longer odds onthe House floor because a provision that would reduce theconforming loan limit could be opposed by congressmen who represent districtswhere home values are higher than the national average.