Bill Pulte

A report from the FHFA's Office of Inspector General, prepared earlier in October 2026, alleged that the agency under Pulte refused to provide records to its internal watchdog and blocked congressionally mandated oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The report described recent budget cuts to the watchdog as an extreme escalation of the agency's challenge to the inspector general's independence.

Pulte said on social media that abusive monopolies would not be allowed to harm consumers in the mortgage market. The statement followed FHFA moves to have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac adopt the VantageScore alongside FICO scores for mortgage pricing, an effort aimed at ending FICO's dominance.

MS Now reported that Pulte, while serving as acting Director of National Intelligence, had fired dozens of intelligence officials. The move drew sharp bipartisan criticism from members of Congress over his appointment to the intelligence role.

President Donald Trump named Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence after Tulsi Gabbard left the post at the end of June 2026. Pulte kept his roles as FHFA Director and chair of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the appointment drew criticism because he had no clear intelligence background.