Elizabeth Warren Accuses Top Mortgage Regulator Bill Pulte of Abuse of Power
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has called for the resignation of Bill Pulte from his dual roles heading
the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), following a scathing report that labeled the high-ranking official “unqualified” and accused him of rampant abuses of power.
“Bill Pulte has spent the last year at FHFA as Donald Trump’s attack dog, abusing every tool at his disposal to investigate the President’s perceived political enemies,” Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in a statement Monday. “Now, he’s taken the helm of our nation’s intelligence community, where he’s reportedly already started mass firings of counterintelligence officers. For the sake of our nation’s national security, Bill Pulte should immediately resign as Acting Director of National Intelligence and as Director of the FHFA.”
Warren’s demand followed the release of a four-page report prepared by Democratic staff of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, which laid out a series of allegations against President Trump’s appointee.
An FHFA spokesperson broadly defended Pulte’s record in a brief statement to Realtor.com® but did not reply to specific questions regarding the allegations.
“The Director’s successful turnarounds at Fannie, Freddie, and FHFA are rigorously carrying out the law and statute and helping millions of Americans afford a home,” the representative said Wednesday.
Democrats allege political weaponization of FHFA
The Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee argued that Pulte’s record as head of FHFA reveals that “he is unprofessional, unqualified, and unfit to serve as FHFA director—let alone as Acting DNI.”
According to the findings laid out in their report, during his tenure as the nation’s top mortgage regulator, Pulte weaponized the agency’s records to launch politically motivated investigations into Trump’s perceived enemies.
Among his publicly disclosed targets were New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
All three were separately accused of mortgage fraud by Pulte, however those cases either never resulted in criminal charges, or fell apart in court.
In December, the Department of Justice failed twice to secure an indictment against James. Federal prosecutors and a grand jury in Maryland are investigating the handling of the probe into Schiff.
Meanwhile, Trump’s attempt to fire Cook over allegations that she committed mortgage fraud before joining the Fed board triggered a constitutional battle.
Late last month, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to deny Trump’s attempt to fire Cook, a Biden appointee, without following the proper procedures outlined under the Federal Reserve Act.
Pulte vs. Powell
The report by Senate Democrats also accuses Pulte of waging a prolonged “campaign” aimed at convincing Trump to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for his refusal to lower interest rates.
Pulte’s strategy allegedly included frequent public criticisms of Powell on social media and drafting a template termination letter that he reportedly hand-delivered to Trump at the White House last year.
Despite unrelenting pressure from the Trump Administration and a separate criminal investigation into Powell over the Fed’s building renovations, Powell concluded his term as planned and was replaced in late May by Trump nominee Kevin Warsh.
Beyond allegedly targeting political opponents, the Senate Banking Committee report also accused Pulte of violating federal law by unlawfully installing himself as the conservator and board chair of FHFA-regulated mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, while mishandling internal workforce restructuring at the housing agency.
“It is clear that Mr. Pulte’s record reveals a lack of the judgment and discretion necessary to serve as Acting DNI,” the authors conclude. “Allowing Pulte to serve in any capacity for any amount of time in the Office of the DNI would create grave national security risks for our nation.”
Unlikely intelligence chief
Pulte has stood at the helm of FHFA since April 2025. In early June, Trump ignited a firestorm when he tapped Pulte as acting director of national intelligence to replace Tulsi Gabbard.
The appointment triggered a sharp bipartisan pushback, with critics on both sides of the aisle pointing out that the 38-year-old Pulte, the grandson of prominent homebuilder William Pulte, has no experience serving in intelligence, military, or law enforcement.
Trump attempted to downplay the controversy by claiming that Pulte’s role coordinating the nation’s intelligence-gathering agencies will be strictly temporary.
“It’s an acting position; he’s not going to be permanent, because, you know, I don’t think he’d want to be permanent,” Trump told reporters just days after tapping Pulte for the job. “But he’s a very smart guy, and he might find out some things about the rigged elections, etc. etc. I think he wants to do it very much.”
Despite calls for his ouster, Pulte currently remains at the helm of ODNI with no permanent replacement in sight. Last week, MS Now reported that the acting director has already begun firing members of the intelligence community by the dozens.
It comes after Trump was said to have signaled in June that he wanted Pulte to “start the process” of dismissing large numbers of ODNI officials.
Realtor.com has reached out to the White House for comment on Pulte’s concurrent roles at FHFA and ODNI.
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