How Bill Pulte is shaking up US housing and fuelling Trump’s fight with Jerome Powell

How Bill Pulte is shaking up US housing and fuelling Trump’s fight with Jerome Powell (Image: Bloomberg)

The US Federal Housing Finance Agency, created in 2008 to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, itself was a technocratic regulator. It operated below the radar of public attention for years. That ended when President Trump appointed Bill Pulte, the 37-year-old son of the PulteGroup homebuilding empire, as the FHFA. Pulte, who is called "Little Trump," has turned the FHFA into a contentious and publicly visible soapbox, employing the position to weigh in on issues far afield from housing, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Pulte has focused a significant amount of his energy toward Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and issued a series of social media ultimatums demanding Powell's resignation or removal from office. He attributed this to "hallucinating" a relationship between tariffs and inflation and propagated web rumour that Powell is resigning. He even composed a letter to Trump to fire the Fed chairman. While Trump hasn't ruled out any short-term action, he didn't rule it out, either, and his loose mouth has sparked rumours circulating about Powell's stay.

As with Trump, Pulte acts in the moment to his three million X followers, often dishing out agency rulings or personal complaints without forethought. Stock in credit-score giant FICO fell earlier this year when Pulte said he was "not happy" with the company. His brash style has disrupted administration officials and executives of the mortgage industry, with some fearing that his antics will be creating unwarranted market volatility. However, the White House insists Pulte is in concert with Trump's agenda.

In addition to his fight with Powell, Pulte has gone aggressively to transform housing finance. He installed himself on as chairmen of the boards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, removed directors, and brought in friends such as financier Omeed Malik, a business associate of Donald Trump Jr. He has also suggested controversial ideas, including treating cryptocurrency as an asset in mortgages. His supporters characterize him as having bold ideas, but his critics see unpredictable decision-making that might destabilize the market.

Pulte has made sweeping policy changes with little pre-announcements. Last month, he announced that lenders could use VantageScore credit scores on Fannie and Freddie-backed loans simultaneously, shattering FICO's longstanding stranglehold on the market. While supporters hailed the move as opening up greater access to credit, banks and investors grumbled about disarray, saying there was no well-established way to equate VantageScore with FICO. The lack of oversight troubled lenders with regard to loan quality and risk measurement.

Pulte's confrontational style has been on display in showdowns with mortgage executives. At a conference last month, he visibly got short with being asked about risk-based fees known as "loan level price adjustments," which critics contend drive up the cost of mortgages. Later, he announced on the web that the FHFA would review whether the name of the fees might be changed, perhaps suggesting the language used was "meant to be confusing." Such events have left industry leaders uncertain about whether to treat Pulte's statements as official policy or political theatre.

Pulte is not only a policy upender but also a politico. A frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago and donor to Trump campaigns, he remains tight with Trump family members, including Donald Trump Jr. He once sat on the board at PulteGroup before leaving under duress and then began a private equity firm. His family's charitable foundation has attempted to distance itself from his politicking, and his splits with his wealthy background regarding his public persona have been noted.

By combining housing regulation with partisan fights about monetary policy, Pulte has confused old Washington waters. Friends praise him as bold and visionary, willing to challenge entrenched systems. Detractors warn that his volatile temperament and online antics could undermine confidence in mortgage markets and complicate Trump's ability to browbeat the Fed. For now, Pulte appears indefatigable, asserting that he won't be deterred by "big monopolies" or negative publicity.

Bill Pulte's tenure as FHFA chief has already shaken promise of a once-unify agency. His broadsides against Powell, policy whiplash, and political partisanship have established him Trump's Washington most polarizing figures. Whether his approach is revolutionary or disordered is yet to be determined, but it has made no mistake that US housing finance is now part of the administration's broader political territory.