Top Democratic lawmakers are calling on Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte to resign after the agency slashed funding for its inspector general, a move they say could effectively shut down the independent watchdog.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and other senior Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), accused Pulte on Wednesday of trying to dismantle the office responsible for independently investigating fraud, waste, and misconduct at the housing regulator.
“Bill Pulte is shutting down the independent watchdog that is responsible for investigating his misconduct — like his efforts to weaponize private mortgage data in sham investigations against the President’s perceived political enemies,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement released Wednesday night.
“Pulte’s corrupt crusade to protect himself and President Trump from accountability will likely result in the firing of approximately 40 law enforcement personnel who protect families from mortgage fraud,” the statement continued. “Bill Pulte should resign, and if he does not, Congress must hold him accountable.”
FHFA announced the cuts in a press release on Wednesday, arguing that the inspector general’s budget and staffing levels were far higher than those of watchdogs at other federal agencies. The inspector general had requested a budget equal to 16 percent of FHFA’s operating budget, according to the agency. FHFA said inspectors general across the federal government receive an average of about two percent of their agencies’ budgets.
The watchdog’s employees also make up 18 percent of FHFA’s workforce, compared with an average of about four percent at other agencies, FHFA said. “FHFA cannot justify such a discrepancy to the American people,” the agency said, adding that it “fully supports the independence and mission” of the inspector general.
Pulte responded on the social platform X by firing back at Warren, referring to her by a derogatory nickname and accusing her of wanting to “waste precious federal money like a drunken sailor.”
The agency’s inspector general position has been vacant since last year after Reuters reported the ouster of acting Inspector General Joe Allen.
The clash comes as Democrats are poised to retake the Senate majority in November, and as House Republicans eye pickups despite Democratic momentum in key races. The dispute also follows recent watchdog controversies, including a review of a watchdog report exonerating Powell on a Fed renovation project.
