A Phil Hall Op-Ed: I don’t know how you spent your Saturday morning, but I was watching the news on television while enjoying an eggs-and-salami breakfast. (Yes, be grateful that I am the editor of a real estate news site and not a cooking site.) The morning’s news broadcast included a story on President Trump’s trip to the Johnson Space Center in Texas, where he awarded medals to the astronauts on the recent Artemis mission and spoke with other astronauts who are currently in orbit.
But as I watched this news segment, I noticed something that was very strange. There was a short, chubby-faced man wandering behind the president, looking about in confusion as if he didn’t know where to stand. The newscaster made no mention of his presence, and for a few seconds I was wondering whether I was seeing things – it couldn’t be who I thought it was.
I went online to see a replay of that news segment and my initial identification was correct. The man standing behind the president was none other than Bill Pulte – and the picture at the top of this article comes from that news segment.
Of course, the obvious question is: Why is the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), who is also chairman of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at the Johnson Space Center with the president? You might imagine that someone with three different jobs would be doing one of them, rather than playing hooky to visit with astronauts.
After all, there is plenty that Pulte should have been doing. For instance, what’s happening with loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs)? In an Aug. 20 post on his personal X account, Pulte stated: “We are nearing the end of our review of certain LLPAs. Decisions coming soon.” Really? Housing industry leaders have been after him since he took office at the FHFA to act on the subject, which he has conspicuously refused to publicly address until now.
Also, perhaps Pulte could use his chairmanship at Fannie Mae to clear up the stories about roughly a dozen executives who were abruptly fired. There has been zero explanation about what took place and why it occurred. The utter lack of transparency for a matter of this depth is without precedence. Certainly, the shareholders in this OTC-traded entity deserve an explanation?
And while we’re on topics that Pulte doesn’t want to discuss, what’s the deal with his effort to encourage homebuilders to create more supply? The president tasked Pulte with that responsibility last fall – can he take credit for anything being built?
Furthermore, why are mortgage rates still hovering in the mid-6% range? Wasn’t this administration going to make housing more affordable? This is the job of the FHFA director, so why isn’t he out front addressing and solving the problem?
There’s no point asking about when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are going to exit federal conservatorship. It has become painfully obvious that will not happen during the Trump administration. Also, let’s not revisit the few things he has done at the FHFA, like create phony mortgage fraud accusations designed to impugn the president’s political foes and shill endlessly for VantageScore.
But maybe Pulte doesn’t want any of his three jobs? Remember his recent temporary gig as the Interim Director of the Office of National Intelligence? He was reportedly unwilling to yield once the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as the full-time director, and he wound up sitting in on a Cabinet meeting in that role several days after Clayton’s confirmation vote. (Clayton was also there, although technically he shouldn’t have been present since he wasn’t officially sworn in.)
Perhaps there is a prospective job opening at NASA that Pulte sniffed out, and he tagged along on the trip to the Johnson Space Center to lobby for the position? If that’s the case, I sincerely hope he doesn’t get it. After all, considering the non-job he’s done in the housing market, I would hate to imagine what Pulte would do with the nation’s space program.
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
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