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In what’s viewed as a potential step toward privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, President-Elect Donald Trump has nominated private equity CEO and philanthropist Bill Pulte as head of the mortgage giants’ federal regulator.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson, who has led the FHFA since June 2021, plans to step down Jan. 19.
Bill Pulte
Pulte — the grandson of homebuilder PulteGroup’s founder William J. Pulte — thanked Trump on X Thursday, where he has more than 3 million followers, calling him “the greatest President in history” and promising that “under your leadership, we will restore the American Dream FOR ALL!”
Although no longer affiliated with the company, in 2016 Pulte helped his grandfather oust 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 housing industry.
David Dworkin
“While Bill isn’t well known in Washington, we worked together in Detroit and I can say firsthand he is passionate about affordable housing and community development, as well as deeply knowledgeable about the housing market and homebuilding industry,” National Housing Conference CEO David Dworkin said in a statement. “When Detroit was at its lowest point during the bankruptcy in 2013, Bill came home to work in communities hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. I expect he will be an important voice in the Trump Administration’s efforts to bring down the cost of homeownership and make all housing more affordable.”
Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit also congratulated Pulte on his nomination but made clear that if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are privatized, the government should continue to provide a backstop for mortgage-backed securities they issue.
Bob Broeksmit
“The conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac … was never intended to be permanent,” Broeksmit acknowledged. The MBA “stands ready to work with the Administration and Congress to ensure that the transition to a post-conservatorship era for the GSEs is done the right way, including the critical step that Congress approves an explicit federal backstop for the GSEs’ mortgage-backed securities, to prevent severe market disruptions.”
Like the National Association of Realtors, the MBA has proposed a “utility-style” framework for Fannie and Freddie that preserves their mandate to support affordable housing.
Trump began the process of recapitalizing Fannie and Freddie, which were placed in government conservatorship in 2008 as mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures climbed during the Great Recession of 2007-09. But Democrats derailed the plan to privatize Fannie and Freddie after Trump lost the 2020 election, prompting top executives to depart from both companies.
Project 2025, a 922-page policy document put together by the conservative Heritage Foundation that Trump has distanced himself from, lays out a more radical approach to privatization than that put forward by NAR and the MBA.
Project 2025’s chapter on the Treasury Department advocates winding down Fannie and Freddie “in an orderly manner” and moving toward “privatization of these massive housing finance agencies. This would restore a sustainable housing finance market with a robust private mortgage market that does not rely on explicit or implicit taxpayer guarantees.”
Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, wasn’t asked about privatizing Fannie and Freddie at his confirmation hearing Thursday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, provided Bessent with 17 questions about the future of the mortgage giants.
Elizabeth Warren
“If you decide to end the conservatorships of Fannie and Freddie, will you seek to do so through administrative action or through legislation by Congress?” Warren asked in a Jan. 12 letter. “In your view, what conditions must be met before ending the conservatorships? Are there any congressional actions that must take place to end the conservatorships?”
Vice President Kamala Harris claimed at a campaign appearance in August that privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could add $1,200 a year in additional interest costs to the typical American mortgage.
Experts consulted by PolitiFact said that “although privatization would likely affect mortgages, it’s difficult to parse out with certainty how profound the changes would be.”
The Harris campaign told PolitiFact that the $1,200-a-year estimate was based on a 2015 analysis by Moody’s Analytics and The Urban Institute.
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