The Senate on Thursday voted 56-43 to confirm Bill Pulte as the nation’s top housing regulator, putting him at the center of a fight over the future of two government-controlled companies that prop up half the residential mortgage market.
As the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Pulte will have oversight of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been in government conservatorship for more than 16 years.
The Trump administration is widely expected to seek to release Fannie and Freddie from government control — a complicated process that will rekindle debate about the role of the federal government in housing at a time when affordability has emerged as a major political concern.
Pulte gave few clues during his confirmation hearing with the Senate Banking Committee about what would happen with the companies, which buy mortgages and package them into securities for sale to investors.
“While [Fannie and Freddie’s] conservatorships should not be indefinite, any exit from conservatorship must be carefully planned to ensure the safety and soundness of the housing market without upward pressure on mortgage rates,” he told the panel.
Pulte expanded slightly on that position in a written response to questions for the record from Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the committee.
“My priority in overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is ensuring a stable and thriving housing and mortgage market, and to this end, any decisions related to if or when Fannie or Freddie are released from conservatorship would involve the President and the Secretary of the Treasury,” he wrote.
Pulte declined to answer Warren’s question about whether he has consulted with outside advisers including Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund founder who has held sizable positions in both companies for years in the hopes that they would eventually be privatized.
