Over the past few days on social media platform X — his public megaphone of choice — Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte this past weekend rescinded two orders rescinding previous policy with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) before offering public-facing comment on his approach to reforming the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs).
The moves come as some inside and outside the administration have called on Pulte to provide more clarity on his intentions leading the GSEs, something that has come from both Republican and Democratic circles alike in Congress and in the private sector.
On Saturday, Pulte rescinded prior requirements for board diversity and associated diversity data collection at the Federal Home Loan Banks and the FHFA’s Office of Finance, and a separate order rescinding FHFA’s diversity and inclusion examination rating system calling it “multiple, redundant layers of compliance examination.”
Both orders were effective immediately. Customarily, Pulte included no additional comment with these orders, nor were they published through official communications channels via FHFA.
But on Monday, Pulte did issue a series of statements regarding his perspectives on GSE reform.
“For years, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been filled with bloat, excessive spending, and worse — that ends now,” Pulte said in an initial Monday X post. “These two businesses need to be run as businesses that serve the American people. We are making positive changes that make our housing market more safe, sound, and affordable!”
He followed that up minutes later with an additional post, calling the GSEs “stronger than ever before” and vowing they “will continue to get stronger by the day.” He described some of his contract rescissions as working toward that goal.
“Consulting contracts that waste money and other DEI nonsense is being stripped away,” he said. “Now, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can finally work on things that make housing more affordable for Americans!”
Minutes after that in a separate post, Pulte added that the agency has “reduced regulations at a pace no one has ever seen before and these actions have made the market more safe, sound, and affordable.” He then claimed that on Monday, he “cut several Obama and Biden regulations that were hurting housing affordability” but did not offer any substantive details about what those regulations were.
Pulte then later claimed that the agency spent $9 million on DEI initiatives in 2024, saying that money will be redirected “to better uses that actually make homes more affordable.” He then later claimed that he was informed on Monday afternoon that DEI and climate-focused cuts have resulted in a savings of $6.4 million.
But recent reporting suggests that even some allies of the administration feel in the dark related to Pulte’s recent moves at the agency and the GSEs, which have included jettisoning top FHFA officials and GSE executives alongside staff layoffs, and installing himself as board chair at both Fannie and Freddie.
This has sparked “uncertainty” at the GSEs themselves centered on the possibility that he could reduce the footprint at both companies, according to a report Monday at Semafor. Such a move has the potential to worsen housing affordability instead as the stock market endures new stresses brought about by the White House’s recently-revealed tariff policies, according to sources who spoke with the outlet.
The GSEs play a key role in packaging mortgage loans into bonds for sale investors, and cutting them back could raise rates at least in the short term, according to Eric Hagen, managing director of BTIG.
“We’re thinking about that as the main thrust of the outcome,” Hagen told Semafor.
But Norbert Michel, vice president and director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, said that any pricing pressure could subside once the private sector has the opportunity to step in. Democratic lawmakers have been consistently sounding the alarm, however, over Pulte’s actions at the GSEs, and an employee who requested anonymity bluntly told the outlet that “morale is dead.”
While Republicans have largely advocated for Pulte to take the actions he sees fit to get both FHFA and the GSEs closer to the administration’s vision, a letter from the Senate Banking Committee last week appeared to allude to a lack of clarity on the moves that Pulte was making and requested that he provide updates.
“I urge you to continue identifying waste, fraud, and abuse as well as inefficiencies at the FHFA and its regulated entities,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-N.C.), the committee’s chairman. “Please provide an update on the results of your efforts to identify waste, fraud, and abuse and to refocus the entities within your purview. The Committee stands ready to work with you on any statutory obstacles that may be hindering a flourishing housing finance system.”
