With the term of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) ending soon, eyes turn to Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) as his likely successor as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

So what type of agenda will he press? What can be expected from him?

Johnson, who is known as a pragmatist, offered a window into his reign Friday in The Wall Street Journal. In an article on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) argued for the elimination of the GSEs, and by extension 30-year, fixed-rate home mortgages.

“I’m not trying to dictate whether we have a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage,” Hensarling told the Journal. “I’m trying to protect the taxpayer from future hemorrhaging losses.”

To this, Johnson defended the stalwart home mortgage. The 30-year mortgage “needs to be preserved,” Johnson said. Just this position tells much about Johnson. He’ll likely hew to the Obama administration’s line and aim to preserve existing government support of the mortgage industry. And by diverging from the “multi-year process” for shutting the GSEs espouse by Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), who is likely to be the next chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Johnson is drawing a political line in the sand. Let the political warfare begin.