Trump nominates Bill Pulte to head FHFA

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has a candidate in mind to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he chose Bill Pulte, head of investment firm Pulte Capital Partners, to run the regulator of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Banks. 

Pulte Capital Partners acquires and grows companies relating to housing supply, housing services, homebuilders and related services throughout the United States and Canada, according to the firm's website.

"Bill needs no formal introduction to the Great Citizens of our Country, because they have seen, and many have experienced, his philanthropy firsthand," Trump wrote Thursday. 

Pulte's grandfather, the late William Putle, was the founder of PulteGroup, one of the largest homebuilders in the nation. The FHFA nominee was a director there from 2016 to 2020. 

The news, first reported by Reuters, comes shortly after current director of the FHFA Sandra Thompson said she would resign from her post on Jan 19.

President Trump's team is considered likely to resume his first-term efforts to end the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

The FHFA was established under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to oversee and manage the government-sponsored enterprises. If the GSEs are privatized, FHFA's role will be redefined, if not entirely eliminated, as some have speculated. 

Thompson recently took steps to encourage a slow approach to an exit from government control for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

Trade groups in the mortgage industry responded positively to Pulte's nomination.

The Community Home Lenders of America shared its congratulations.

"We look forward to working with [Bill Pulte] on the critical priorities of homeownership affordability and protecting smaller IMBs in any plan in which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exit conservatorship," CHLA wrote in a statement.

Bob Broeksmit, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said he looks forward to working with Pulte on policies and programs that boost housing supply and create affordable opportunities.

"The conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) was never intended to be permanent," Broeksmit added in a statement congratulating Pulte. "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." 

A successful exit of Fannie and Freddie from conservatorship could generate over $300 billion of profit to the federal government, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman previously said, while also removing $8 trillion of liabilities from the government's balance sheet. However, others have cautioned that such a move must be meticulously orchestrated in order to prevent massive losses and market chaos.