By Gina Heeb

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, created in 2008 to oversee mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has historically been a sleepy agency run by a relative unknown.

Bill Pulte is turning that on its head.

The 37-year-old FHFA chief, known to some as "Little Trump," has recently inserted himself into the middle of the action, thanks to a relentless social-media campaign targeting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. He even drafted a letter for President Trump to fire Powell. (Trump on Wednesday denied that he planned to, though didn't rule it out entirely.)

Pulte, an heir of one of the largest home builders, has 3 million followers on X, after gaining popularity by giving away money using the platform. Like Trump, he regularly posts policy changes or ideas in real-time and airs frustrations. Shares of Fair Isaac Corp., also known as FICO, fell sharply earlier this year after Pulte said he was "not happy" with the credit-scoring firm.

This freewheeling style is rubbing some mortgage industry players and senior Trump administration officials the wrong way.

For weeks Pulte has said on X that Powell should step down or be fired and that the Fed chair is "hallucinating" a link between tariffs and inflation. He shared a statement on FHFA letterhead amplifying baseless internet rumors that Powell was going to resign.

Like Trump and other allies who want the Fed to cut rates, Pulte has also seized on ballooning costs of renovations at the Federal Reserve building as a potential avenue to dismiss Powell.

His attacks on Powell have irritated some senior administration officials, according to people familiar with the matter. They view it as inappropriate for the FHFA director to weigh in and worry his loose approach could undermine the administration's efforts to pressure the Fed or intensify the risk of market turmoil.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Pulte and the administration are on the same page.

"The President has been transparent in vocalizing his displeasure with the policies and management of the Fed. The White House and the entire Trump administration are appreciative of Mr. Pulte's efforts, and everyone is working together to implement the president's policies," she said in a statement.

FHFA spokesman Tallman Johnson said Pulte has good relationships with senior officials.

Pulte has also supported swift action to pursue public offerings for Fannie and Freddie, which he and proponents say would raise a hefty sum for the government. The firms backstop a swath of the U.S. housing market by buying and packaging mortgages.

Pulte declined to comment in detail on his leadership style and early actions as FHFA director.

"We will not be intimidated by hit pieces like this, with unnamed 'sources', that are designed to help big monopolies like FICO and their lobbyists, and continue the ripping off of Americans, which has gone on for decades," he said.

Shaking up 'U.S. Federal Housing'

A Trump donor and Mar-a-Lago regular, Pulte trusts a small circle of allies that include Donald Trump Jr., according to people familiar with the matter.

He is one of more than two dozen grandchildren of William J. Pulte, who founded the home builder giant PulteGroup. Pulte sat on the company's board from 2016 to 2020 but left after disagreements with other directors. Last year, the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation sought to distance itself from him in a public statement.

Pulte founded Pulte Capital Partners, a private-equity firm that invested in air conditioning, heating and other building-related companies.

After taking the reins at FHFA, Pulte quickly made himself the chairman of the boards of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He axed directors and senior leaders. He brought onto the Fannie board Omeed Malik, president of 1789 Capital and a business partner of Trump Jr. He unofficially traded the name "FHFA" for the broader "U.S. Federal Housing."

Pulte has called for cryptocurrency to be counted as an asset in mortgages and upended the way credit scores can be used in the industry.

"He thinks big and different," said Mat Ishbia, the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage and a close ally of Pulte. "He isn't afraid to make a move."

Pulte originally jockeyed for the nomination of Housing and Urban Development secretary, some people familiar with the matter said, but ultimately lost out to Scott Turner, a former professional football player and Texas lawmaker.

Effective Immediately

Pulte has pursued some of the bigger changes without input from or a heads-up to others in the administration or at Fannie and Freddie, according to people familiar with the matter. He has also rattled some in the industry with his unexpected pronouncements and intermittent communication.

Pulte has a "really interesting leadership style," said Leah Price, who until recently led the Office of Financial Technology as well as the Chief AI Office at the FHFA. "It is very different from anything else certainly in the mortgage industry or anything in financial services."

At a Mortgage Bankers Association conference in May, his major debut with the industry, Pulte sat down with dozens of executives behind closed doors. Executives asked about risk-related fees that Fannie and Freddie charge, which critics have blamed for higher mortgage costs, according to people familiar with the matter.

The people said Pulte grew visibly frustrated and sought to move on from the questions about the fees, called "loan level price adjustments," or LLPAs. In a later X post, Pulte announced plans to explore whether to change the name LLPA, which he said was "meant to be confusing."

This month, Pulte said mortgage lenders could use credit scores from VantageScore in loan originations backed by Fannie and Freddie effective immediately, a move touted as a way to expand credit access. Credit scores for the loans, which account for nearly half of originations, previously came only from FICO. Including VantageScore in mortgage underwriting had been discussed in the Biden administration as well.

But many industry players were left confused about how to implement the change. Banks, lenders and investors have long relied on FICO scores to analyze risk and set prices in the mortgage markets, but the FHFA hadn't provided guidance on VantageScore equivalents. VantageScore CEO Silvio Tavares has called it "a big win for the mortgage industry." But some worry the change could worsen loan quality by encouraging lenders to use the most permissible scores.

Write to Gina Heeb at gina.heeb@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 17, 2025 17:02 ET (21:02 GMT)

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