Warren targets FHFA's Pulte over board moves

Senate Democrats say they'll continue to press Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte after the regulator's watchdog demurred on their investigative demands. 

According to letters obtained by Politico, the FHFA's Office of Inspector General last week deferred Democrats' questions about the FHFA to the agency itself. Senators on the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs asked the OIG last month to probe the legality of Pulte's reshuffling of the boards of directors of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and for further details of a mass firing. 

FHFA IG Brian Tomney, a Biden appointee, wrote to lawmakers that the FHFA had already offered continuing dialogue on five of senators' six questions. Regarding terminations and staff placed on administrative leave, the FHFA said it was monitoring "workforce planning efforts" including the government's Deferred Resignation Program. 

"FHFA also appears to be best situated to provide information regarding its involvement in the termination of employees," wrote Tomney. 

The OIG meanwhile said it's working on its annual reports addressing the FHFA's performance challenges and information security practices. 

In a statement shared Thursday with National Mortgage News, Committee Ranking Member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Committee Dems will continue to speak with the FHFA and its IG regarding accountability. 

"FHFA Director Pulte needs to answer for the chaos he has created that could undermine the stability of American mortgages," said Warren in a statement. 

Tomney's letter also didn't address senators' question whether President Trump's cost-cutting task force was involved in any FHFA action. Pulte, in a past social media post and a recent interview, suggested the Department of Government Efficiency was involved in cutting 25% of the FHFA's workforce. 

The recent letters didn't indicate if the OIG was refusing to open a probe. The OIG in response to a media inquiry Thursday said it doesn't comment on the existence, or non-existence, of investigations. 

Pulte speaks

The FHFA director, in a recent interview with cryptocurrency influencer Anthony Pompliano, shared his view on the letter from Senate Democrats, and asked lawmakers to give the FHFA "the benefit of the doubt." 

"It seemed to me it was almost accusatory in nature," said Pulte. "We should all be working together to fight fraud, no matter where it comes from. I like to work with people no matter what side of the aisle they're on."

Pulte also spoke about his changes at the Fannie and Freddie boards, suggesting leadership were handcuffed by bureaucracy in the past four years. He blamed inflation and housing unaffordability on the previous Biden administration. 

His interview was posted between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's first quarter earnings. Pulte, chairman of both government-sponsored enterprises, spoke briefly during Fannie's earnings but not Freddie's. 

The director also said Wednesday he's signed between 50 to 80 orders, although he's only made a dozen of those actions public via posts on X. A spokesperson for the FHFA didn't respond Thursday to a question about the number of orders, or where further information could be found. 

The FHFA head also downplayed concerns over tariffs, stating that he didn't believe they were as impactful on the housing and home building markets as some had feared, and that people know what President Trump's strategy is. 

"I think that, the punchline is, you have somebody in President Trump who's going to get this economy roaring again, but we've got to reverse what's happened with these last four years," he said. "And these nations have been ripping the country off, and the president is going to take care of it."