The grandson of PulteGroup founder William J. Pulte, Bill Pulte is a private equity CEO, philanthropist and Trump loyalist with 3 million followers on X.
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In what is seen as a potential move to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Private Equity CEO and philanthropist Bill Pulte as the head of the federal mortgage giant’s regulator.
The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Sandra Thompson, who has led the FHFA since June 2021, plans to step down on January 19.
Bill Pulte
Pulte – the grandson of the founder of the PulteGroup, the founder of the PulteGroup, William J. Pulte – thanked Trump on Thursday X, where he has more than three million followers, calling him “the greatest President in history” and promised that “under your leadership, we will restore America. It is the dream of ALL !”
Although no longer associated with the company, in 2016 Pulte helped his grandfather fire PulteGroup Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Dugas and served on the company’s board of directors until May 2020.
As the founder of Pulte Capital Partners LLC, and through his philanthropic efforts, Pulte has maintained ties to the real estate industry.
David Dworkin
“Although Bill is not well known in Washington, we worked together in Detroit and I can personally say that he has a passion for affordable housing and community development, as well as deep knowledge about the housing market and the construction industry,” the National Housing Conference David. Dworkin said in a statement. “When Detroit was at its lowest point during the 2013 bankruptcy, Bill came home to work in communities hit hard by the foreclosure crisis. I expect he will be a key voice in the Trump Administration’s efforts to lower the cost of home ownership and make all housing more affordable. “
Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit also congratulated Pulte on his nomination but made it clear that if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were to be privatized, the government would have to continue to provide a backstop for the mortgage-backed securities they issue.
Bob Broeksmith
“The preservation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac … was not meant to last forever,” Broeksmit admitted. The MBA “stands ready to work with the Administration and Congress to ensure that the transition to a post-conservation era for the GSEs is done properly, including the important step of Congress authorizing a clear federal basis for the GSEs’ mortgage-backed.” securities, to prevent major market disruptions. “
Like the National Association of Realtors, the MBA proposed a “utilized-style” framework for Fannie and Freddie that maintains their mandate to subsidize affordable housing.
Trump began the process of defunding Fannie and Freddie, which were placed into a federal conservatorship in 2008 as mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures soared during the Great Recession of 2007-09. But Democrats scrapped plans to privatize Fannie and Freddie after Trump lost the 2020 election, prompting the departure of top executives from both companies.
Project 2025, a 922-page policy document put together by the conservative Heritage Foundation from which Trump has distanced himself, lays out a tougher approach to privatization than those laid out by the NAR and the MBA.
Project 2025’s chapter on the Treasury Department advocates decommissioning Fannie and Freddie in an “orderly manner” and moving on to “establishing these giant mortgage institutions.” This will restore a sustainable housing finance market with a strong private mortgage market that does not rely on implicit or explicit guarantees from taxpayers.”
Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, was not asked about making Fannie and Freddie independent at his confirmation hearing Thursday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, gave Bessent 17 questions about the future of the mortgage giants.
Elizabeth Warren
“If you decide to end Fannie and Freddie’s conservation, are you going to want to do it by executive action or by an act of Congress?” Warren asked in a January 12 letter. Are there congressional actions that need to happen to end conservation?”
Vice President Kamala Harris said on the campaign trail in August that privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could add $1,200 a year in extra interest costs to America’s mortgages.
Experts contacted by PolitiFact said that “while privatization may affect mortgages, it is difficult to determine with certainty how deep the changes would be.”
The Harris campaign told PolitiFact that the $1,200 a year estimate is based on a 2015 analysis by Moody’s Analytics and the Urban Institute.
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