Bill Pulte Is One of Powell’s Biggest Critics. What He Has to Say About the Fed.

Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, says Fed Chair Jerome Powell has “gotta go.” (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

As the Trump administration ramps up its criticism of Jerome Powell, some of the most persistent calls are coming from a previously obscure member of the administration.

As the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte oversees the system that helps keep the U.S. mortgage market liquid. In recent months, Pulte has become one of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s biggest critics.

“Powell’s gotta go,” he said during a Wednesday night interview with Barron’s. It’s far from the first time the head of the U.S.’s housing finance overseer has made the point. Since the middle of June, Pulte has posted at least two dozen messages on the social-media website X either calling for the Fed chair to resign or amplifying messages from others urging the same.

A Federal Reserve spokesperson declined to comment. But the Fed chair previously said he wouldn’t be pushed out of the role. “Not permitted under the law,” Powell said during a November press conference when asked if he believed the president could fire or demote him.

A draft of a letter Trump showed to lawmakers Wednesday was written by Pulte, a senior administration official told Barron’s. Markets fell abruptly after the story was published, though they quickly recovered once Trump said he wasn’t likely to fire Powell soon.

Among Pulte’s points of contention is the central bank’s wait-and-see approach to interest rates, particularly in the light of the administration’s tariffs. “He has kept these rates high, which is devastating to the housing market,” Pulte said.

Powell in June said that it isn’t yet clear what effect tariffs will have on inflation. “For the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance,” the Fed chair said.

Powell also addressed the slow housing market. “I think the best thing we can do for the housing market is to restore price stability in a sustainable way and, and create a strong labor market,” he said.

Pulte has also criticized the Fed’s $2.5 billion building renovation. “I genuinely don’t know how you could spend that much money,” he says. The Federal Reserve expounded upon the renovations in a frequently asked questions article.

Pulte is one of the grandchildren of William J. Pulte, founder of home builder PulteGroup. The younger Pulte served on the company’s board in 2016-2020.

Pulte is the chair of the boards of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two home finance giants have been under government conservatorship since the 2008 housing crisis. While the Trump administration in its first term pushed to remove the enterprises from government conservatorship, that doesn’t look likely to happen this time around, Pulte says.

“I think it’s likely that the companies will stay in conservatorship, but the president is actively looking at simultaneously potentially taking them public,” he told Barron’s Wednesday, echoing earlier comments. “That could mean, you know, a small amount, or pieces, or just ways to get additional liquidity” from markets, he says.

Pulte also nodded to the regulator’s recent directive telling Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to investigate using cryptocurrency in the evaluation of mortgage risk. The finance agency is “really going to focus on cryptocurrency and making sure that in a safe and sound manner, if people have legitimate assets, that they get counted toward their mortgage,” he says.

Write to Shaina Mishkin at shaina.mishkin@dowjones.com and Nicole Goodkind at nicole.goodkind@barrons.com