A relatively obscure housing regulator is emerging as one of President Trump’s loudest attack dogs.
Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is leading the charge against the Federal Reserve as the White House seeks better interest rates for borrowers.
Mr. Pulte, a 37-year-old with 3 million followers on X, is lambasting Fed Chair Jerome Powell every chance he gets and recently called for a criminal investigation into a Biden-appointed Fed governor, Lisa Cook, over allegations of mortgage fraud.
“I believe the President has cause to fire Lisa Cook,” Mr. Pulte wrote on social media.
That’s not all. Mr. Pulte referred New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff to Attorney General Pam Bondi for possible criminal prosecution, alleging they also engaged in mortgage fraud.
Mr. Pulte’s rise as a leading Trump enforcer is one of the more unusual plotlines in the president’s second term. Democrats say Mr. Pulte is helping Mr. Trump go after political opponents, while White House supporters say Mr. Pulte is following the facts.
“Bill is on fire. He understands the tools we have available to hold these hypocrites accountable for their illegal behavior,” Sean Spicer, a first-term press secretary to Mr. Trump and host of “The Sean Spicer Show” podcast, told The Washington Times. “It’s great seeing the leftists that weaponized government held accountable.”
Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Pulte as director of the FHFA after the Northwestern University graduate earned notice for his philanthropic work.
Mr. Pulte founded the Blight Authority, a nonprofit organization that cleared out abandoned buildings and overgrowth in places like Detroit, St. Louis and Flint, Michigan. He has deep family roots in the homebuilding and community development sectors and, in 2011, he founded Pulte Capital Partners to focus on building and housing products.
“Bill needs no formal introduction to the Great Citizens of our Country, because they have seen, and many have experienced, his philanthropy firsthand,” Mr. Trump wrote in his nomination announcement on Truth Social. “He believes in the incredible potential of our Nation, and will help us restore the American Dream FOR ALL.”
After his confirmation, Mr. Pulte shook up personnel at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — two government-backed mortgage finance firms — and made himself board chairman of the entities.
He also injected himself into a fight over the Fed.
Mr. Pulte has been one of the harshest critics of Mr. Powell and the central bank, which this year refused to bow to Mr. Trump’s push for lower interest rates.
Mr. Pulte said in June that there was “momentum building” for Mr. Powell’s resignation, given the views of some Fed governors.
“It is clear that Powell’s political bias against our great President needs to be looked at,” he wrote.
In July, the social media-savvy housing director posted: “I believe Jerome Powell is conducting economic warfare against America.”
He also played a key role in scrutinizing the cost of renovations at the Fed building in Washington. Mr. Trump toured the building and questioned whether the project could have been done for far less money.
In a written statement, the White House said Mr. Trump wants to make it easier to afford a home by eliminating red tape and lowering costs and that the president has been clear about his displeasure with the Fed’s refusal to lower rates.
“The White House and the entire Trump administration are appreciative of Mr. Pulte’s efforts, and everyone is working together to implement the President’s policies,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Mr. Pulte is also the type of ally that Mr. Trump likes the most.
Highly “dominant” leaders like Mr. Trump “respect social dominance and toughness in others,” said Aubrey Immelman, an associate professor of psychology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Minnesota who studies the personality of U.S. presidents and foreign leaders.
“They have a dog-eat-dog view of the world and tend to perceive others in terms of strength and weakness,” he said.
Mr. Pulte’s aggressive tactics, particularly on social media, have simmered throughout the year but burst into the open with his drive to oust Ms. Cook.
Mr. Pulte said the Fed governor unlawfully listed two residences, one in Michigan and one in Georgia, as primary residences in 2021 and then listed the Georgia property for rent.
“This is the hottest story in the world right now,” Mr. Pulte said Thursday during an appearance on FOX Business’ “Mornings With Maria.” “This is why President Trump won in a landslide, because the people are sick and tired of this crap.”
Ms. Cook, in a statement through the Fed, said she had “no intention of being bullied” and would “provide the facts” about her mortgage documents.
Democrats who’ve sparred with the Fed in the past say they’re concerned with Mr. Trump’s efforts to reshape the board.
“I’ve long been an advocate for holding Fed officials accountable. But anyone can see that for months now, President Trump has been scrambling for a pretext to intimidate or fire Chair Powell and members of the Federal Reserve Board while blaming anyone but himself for how his failed economic policies are hurting Americans,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee. “The president and his administration should not weaponize the federal government to illegally fire independent Fed Board members.”
Beyond the Fed, Mr. Pulte has raised concerns about primary-residence claims made by Ms. James, who successfully sued Mr. Trump last year over his property claims. However, a New York appeals court on Thursday threw out the massive penalty against the president, calling it excessive.
Mr. Pulte made similar mortgage-fraud claims against Mr. Schiff, who, when he was in the House, helped lead impeachment proceedings against Mr. Trump in 2019.
Ms. James and Mr. Schiff, now a California senator, have called the allegations baseless and are pushing back on the probes. The senator said it was “the kind of stuff you see tinpot dictators do.”
Mr. Pulte’s agency said the director is following the facts and must raise concerns when evidence of potential fraud comes across his desk.
“Director Pulte is committed to safeguarding the integrity of the housing and mortgage system,” the FHFA said in a statement to The Washington Times. “Nobody is above the law.”
