Republican lawmakers are questioning President Donald Trump‘s selection of federal housing chief Bill Pulte to oversee the nation’s spy agencies while remaining in his role as chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Trump named Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard, who leaves the post at the end of the month. Pulte is the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, overseeing Fannie and Freddie, and will hold both roles simultaneously, Trump said.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) has already said he will oppose confirming Pulte to the role permanently, sharing his open distaste for the mortgage regulator in a hearing on Wednesday.
“Did you actually tell Pulte you were going to punch him in the face?” Tillis asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a budget hearing, referring to a private confrontation previously reported by Politico.
“No, sir, I actually said I was going to kick his ass,” Bessent said.
“Good, OK, I share the emotion,” Tillis responded. Bessent later downplayed the exchange, but Tillis said he would firmly oppose Pulte’s confirmation as director of national intelligence.
The director of national intelligence, or DNI for short, coordinates the nation’s intelligence agencies, including the CIA, to detect and deter threats such as terrorism, cyberattacks, and international espionage.
In announcing the nomination, Trump cited Pulte’s “deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac.”
Pulte is the founder of investment firm Pulte Capital Partners LLC. His grandfather, William Pulte, founded homebuilder PulteGroup. But the 38-year-old has no direct intelligence or national security experience.
The Senate would need to confirm Pulte to serve in the role permanently. In the past few years, it’s become more common for officials to be named to acting roles to serve for months on end, without a congressional confirmation. And Trump frequently appoints people to serve more than one role at a time.
Republican leaders skeptical
Members of Congress, returning from the Memorial Day Holiday this week, have had a variety of reactions to Pulte’s nomination.
“It’s a funny pick, to say the least,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) told CNBC on Wednesday. “I don’t know him well enough to know whether he has the credentials to do the job. But that’s a problem.”
Asked about Pulte’s nomination late Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Carolina) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, overseeing the agencies, didn’t comment.
“I’ll defer to the chairman on that. We were just made aware of that appointment this morning,” Thune said, noting Pulte would need to be confirmed by the Senate to make the nomination permanent.
“I have no observations on the matter,” Cotton said.
Tillis, a crucial vote who has bucked Trump on several key positions, told CNBC on Wednesday morning, “I don’t think he has a prayer of being confirmed by the U.S. Senate.”
Tillis brought up several of Pulte’s past controversies, which led to his own family publicly disavowing his statements. That “suggests a temperament that’s probably not right for the DNI role.”
Pulte hasn’t commented directly. On X, he reposted several supportive comments from individual members of Congress. They include Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-New York), who said Pulte “has managed some of the most sensitive issues in our economy and has a proven record of leadership.”
And National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett called him a “very careful person, very much in the details and things, trusted by the president and a really close friend to everybody in the White House.”
Democrats caustic over Pulte
Meanwhile, Democrats pounced on Pulte’s lack of relevant experience. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) called Pulte “a Trump political puppet.”
“He needs the intelligence and security teams to pay attention to the security of the nation, not to the political interests of one man, which Pulte has done over and over again,” Schumer said.
They’re also critical of Pulte’s actions at FHFA, including his investigations of Fed board member Lisa Cook and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) related to mortgage fraud. (Neither has yet led to any criminal charges.)
A similar probe, spearheaded by Pulte, targeted New York Attorney General Letitia James over mortgage fraud allegations. Criminal charges against James were dismissed when a judge ruled the prosecutor in the case was improperly appointed, and grand juries have since refused to indict in the matter.
Pulte was also an open critic of former Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom Trump publicly feuded with for perceived slowness to lower mortgage rates, with the FHFA chair repeatedly calling for investigations into Powell and spreading false rumors that Powell was preparing to resign.
Democrats say Pulte’s apparent pattern of targeting Trump’s political enemies with mortgage fraud investigations raises serious questions about his ability to lead the nation’s vast intelligence apparatus fairly and impartially.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said Pulte “has taken the Federal Housing Finance Agency and weaponized private information to be used against the president’s political opponents.”
Warner, ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, also doubts Pulte’s experience.
So does Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. She called Pulte a “lackey, who has no national security experience.”
Appointment muddies the water for ending conservatorship
Pulte’s nomination also upends leadership and strategy shake-ups he started after the Senate confirmed him to lead FHFA in March 2025. FHFA hasn’t commented on Pulte’s nomination.
Fannie Mae shares dropped 11% by midday Wednesday, while Freddie Mac fell about 5%.
The Trump administration has publicly mulled ending the conservatorship of Fannie and Freddie. Both entities have been under federal control since the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008. Analysts worry that Pulte’s divided attention complicates that.
“It already was going to be operationally and politically difficult to end the conservatorships,” TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg said in a note. “We do not see how one could surmount those obstacles if the FHFA director is devoting most of his time to national security issues.”
Realtor.com® senior economist Joel Berner expects the nomination will probably quash conservatorship plans, for now.
“It was already a highly complicated maneuver to pull off, but with divided attention from leadership, it’s probably dead in the water,” Berner says.
But Pulte’s appointment also comes at a time when Fannie and Freddie’s balance sheets are growing. Trump is using them as an instrument to improve affordability in the housing market.
“Equally importantly is the management of the GSEs’ balance sheets, which have grown considerably under Pulte after Trump directed Fannie and Freddie to buy up MBS,” Berner saus. “This gigantic portfolio requires active administration and focused leadership.”
Pulte’s absence also creates risk in the event of a sudden shock to the housing market. An unclear chain of command complicates crisis response if FHFA must take drastic action.
Then again, leadership at the agency might now fall to someone less politically active, Berner says.
Get real estate news in your inbox
