Tenure
Pulte marked his tenure by consolidating control over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. [23] Days after being sworn in,he pushed to remove numerous board members and fired top staff,naming himself chairman of both companies. [24] [25] Pulte placed 35 workers on administrative leave;according to the National Treasury Employees Union,they were not given advance notice. [26] Among those fired were senior officials who had raised concerns about Pulte's order for the release of confidential mortgage pricing data,which they feared could have been viewed as collusion with a competitor and an attempt to fix mortgage rates. [27] Pulte later signed an order ending programs at the companies supporting first-time home buyers and assisting in down payments,leading to concerns that the companies could be privatized. [28] Pulte's job cuts targeted a department that oversaw fair housing rules for the Federal Home Loan Bank system. [29] The Washington Post has characterized Pulte's management style as "Trumpian policy-by-tweet ... often announcing sudden shifts without much heads-up or detail",notable for making decisions that have "repeatedly surprised mortgage bankers,lobbying groups and his own staff". [25]
As director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA),Pulte has alleged that several Trump foes committed mortgage fraud. [30] [31] In April,Pulte referred Letitia James,the attorney general of New York,to attorney general Pam Bondi and deputy attorney general Todd Blanche for criminal prosecution,alleging James "falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms." In May, The Washington Post reported that the Department of Justice was investigating James. [32] In July,Trump accused California senator Adam Schiff of mortgage fraud,citing a memorandum from Fannie Mae sent to Pulte;the memorandum did not claim Schiff committed mortgage fraud. [33] During the month of August,Ed Martin was appointed as special prosecutor to oversee the investigation into James and initiate an inquiry into Schiff. [34] That same month,President Trump additionally called for Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook to resign after Pulte alleged she had committed mortgage fraud. [35] [36] Trump invoked the "for cause" removal of Cook days later,although with uncertain authority. [37]
In an interview with CNBC 's Andrew Ross Sorkin in September,Pulte rejected allegations of "political weaponization",and refused to say if initial tips about Cook's mortgage documents came from an anonymous source or had originated with administration officials. [38] That month,six Democratic senators sent a letter to Pulte,alleging that he had "abused" his position "to attack President Trump's perceived adversaries". [39] According to the Los Angeles Times,"Pulte has downplayed or ignored reporting by ProPublica that several of Trump's own Cabinet members have made similar housing claims in mortgage and other financial paperwork,and reporting by Reuters that Pulte's father and stepmother have done so as well." [40] [41] [5]
Politico Magazine reported that,during a dinner event at the Executive Branch club in early September,secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent had threatened to punch Pulte over alleged disparaging remarks that Pulte had made about Bessent to Trump, [42] a sign of tensions between the two men. [43] According to Politico ,Pulte's actions elicited discontent from several Republican lawmakers. [44]
Pulte was responsible for the mid-September ouster of Erik Siebert,the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, [45] having advocated for his removal over claims of allegedly deliberate delays into the investigations of Letitia James and James Comey,the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Federal prosecutors at the time failed to find sufficient evidence to prosecute James and declined to seek an indictment. [47] [48] Trump then forced Siebert out and installed Lindsey Halligan,the White House senior associate staff secretary,who sought indictments of James and Comey within days of being appointed to her interim position in late September.
In October, Reuters reported that Pulte had allegedly "skipped over his agency's inspector general when making criminal referrals",violating ethics rules. [49] Reporting in The Washington Post also highlighted Pulte's firing of dozens of employees who handle oversight at the Federal National Mortgage Association,in an alleged bid to prevent investigations into multiple complaints against a high-ranking company officer and Pulte ally. [50] The Wall Street Journal reported that the watchdogs who were removed had initiated a probe to determine if Bill Pulte "had improperly obtained mortgage records of key Democratic officials,including New York Attorney General Letitia James",following internal complaints that alleged "senior officials had improperly directed staff to access the mortgage documents of James and others". [51]
Pulte announced that the FHFA was "working on" making 50-year mortgages available to the general public after President Trump posted an infographic on Truth Social about the idea in November 2025. Politico later revealed that Pulte had come up with the idea himself and had presented the infographic to Trump while they were both at Mar-a-Lago. [52] The proposal was widely criticized by economists due to the likelihood that it would increase housing costs and require homebuyers to pay a "staggering" amount of additional interest. [53] [54] [55] Pulte also stated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would back home loans scored via a FICO alternative,through a company called VantageScore Solutions LLC. [56]
In late November,Representative Eric Swalwell filed a lawsuit against Pulte,alleging an abuse of power and intentional targeting of prominent Democrats. [57] Attorneys for Swalwell wrote that Pulte has repeatedly engaged in "unprecedented and unlawful" acts,specifically the "brazen practice of obtaining confidential mortgage records from Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac and then using them as a basis for referring individual homeowners to DOJ for prosecution". Swalwell stated,in a post on social media,that "Director Pulte has combed through private records of political opponents to silence them". [58] The lawsuit further alleges that Pulte has refused to make comparable criminal referrals of Trump allies,such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent,who made potentially illegal dual "principle residence" mortgage claims that were similar in nature to the ones that Trump cited in an attempt to fire Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook. [58] [59] [60]
