A Phil Hall Op-Ed: The great 18th century French judge and philosopher Montesquieu is credited as the source of this profound quote: “The less men think, the more they talk.” I am reminded of that quote based on the surplus amount of talk generated by Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), regarding Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
First, I need to stress that I think Powell has done a poor job in leading the central bank. I believe that his appointment as Fed chairman in 2018 was one of the big mistakes of the first Trump administration and his reappointment in 2022 was an equally astonishing error by President Biden.
That being said, I believe the constant name-calling and insults by President Trump against Powell is utterly undignified. But, of course, Trump is an equal opportunity offender – he has trash talked Republicans as well as Democrats who grind his gears. Still, the outlandish nature of his wisecracks recalls the great insult comic Don Rickles of politics with his exaggerated vitriol – it is strictly business for Trump, not personal malice. I suspect that for many people, becoming the target of a Trump putdown is something of a badge of honor.
But the president has a wide range of situations to consider, so his Powell comments are part of a larger environment of concerns. The same cannot be said for Pulte, who has a single agency to run. However, if you follow Pulte on X, you get the feeling that he has become obsessed with carrying the president’s unhappiness with Powell to a bizarre length.
Yesterday, Pulte posted and reposted anti-Powell 34 tweets on X between 11:30 a.m. ET and 6:00 p.m. ET (when I got tired counting the endless repetition of the same story. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, Pulte posted 15 messages on X, with 12 of them related to bashing Powell. This morning, there were four anti-Powell comments on X between 7:30 a.m. ET and 8:30 a.m.
In these tweets, Pulte belittled Powell’s intelligence and solely blamed him for bringing havoc to the housing markets. He has repeatedly insisted that Powell resign – he conspicuously avoided urging Trump to fire Powell, which would create a legal crisis.
Earlier this week, Pulte made headlines this week by demanding that Congress investigate Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for allegedly misleading lawmakers about the depth and scope of the $2.5 billion renovations at the central bank’s headquarters. In a statement, Pulte said Powell should be probed for “his political bias, and his deceptive Senate testimony, which is enough to be removed ‘for cause.’ Jerome Powell’s $2.5B in capitalizations of Building Renovation Scandal stinks to high heaven, and he lied when asked about the specifics before Congress. This is nothing short of malfeasance and is worthy of ‘for cause.’” Congressional leaders acknowledged Pulte but made no great movement to start a probe.
Of course, Pulte is not the only Trump administration figure to find fault with Powell – Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Vice President JD Vance have also criticized the central bank chief. But they have not become fixated in using their free time to flood social media with endless complaints about Powell.
With all the time that Pulte spends in slamming Powell, one must question what is he doing at the FHFA? There haven’t been recent updates on plans to end the federal conservatorship of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), nor have there been any details on the disturbing acknowledgment from May about North Korean and Chinese nationals working in the GSEs. On July 1, Pulte posted to X about receiving an update involving “a lot of good things going on at the Federal Home Loan Banks,” but he never bothered to share the news with the nation.
On June 30, Pulte posted to X, “In my mind, even though Fannie and Freddie don’t pay me anything, I take an “ownership” mentality to leading them – that is, every decision is like, “what would I do if I owned this company?” — No one cares like an Owner.”
Well, if that’s the case, maybe Pulte should spend more time running his “company” – or, his federal regulatory agency, to be more precise – and less time criticizing how Powell chairs the central bank. We know that he doesn’t like Powell’s performance, but do we really need to be reminded of his distaste multiple times a day, for days on end? Quite frankly, it has become obnoxious.
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
Photo courtesy of Bill Pulte’s Fan Page on Instagram
Who are the decision makers that determine what the interest rate will be?
The Fed is corrupt and highly politicized. I’ve been following it for many decades. The interest rates are based on whatever will benefit Demoncraps.
The USA has one of the highest interest rates in the world, let that sink in before you think Powell is just looking out for the best interests of this country by keeping the rates this high.
To begin with no and understand that the federal reserve bank is not owned by the federal government. It is not of any reserves and it is not a bank.
To get a clear understanding of how this operation runs itself go find a copy of the book creature from Jekyll Island explaining all that took place back in the early 20th century from Jekyll Island, Georgia in the formation of the federal reserve bank. This is quite an operation that has taken control over our lives.
The only group benefiting from the current mortgage interest rates are the ppl making money off the interest from these loans. We are way past stalemates & impasses. You only have to follow the money trail. And for further proof – riddle me this, Why are interest rates for mortgages climbing but interest rates paid on savings accounts decreasing?