Trump Names Bill Pulte as Director of National Intelligence—but Housing Official Will Continue to Oversee FHFA and Fannie and Freddie

Top mortgage regulator Bill Pulte, who currently serves as chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will now oversee the nation's spy agencies as acting director of national intelligence, President Donald Trump has announced.

Pulte, the current Federal Housing Finance Administration director, will serve in the cabinet-level position that oversees most of the nation's intelligence agencies, including the CIA and NSA, as well as the FBI. He replaces Tulsi Gabbard, who said she would step down this month.

"William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago," Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social.

Pulte will remain director of FHFA, as well as chairman of the two government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Trump said.

Pulte, whose grandfather founded homebuilder PulteGroup, has served as FHFA director since last year. He served on the board of that company for four years. His other experience is mostly in private equity, having founded Pulte Capital Partners LLC, an investment firm which focuses on homebuilding products.

Congress would need to confirm Pulte for the role to be permanent. Pulte was previously confirmed to lead FHFA in March 2025, after the Senate voted 56-43.

Pulte seen as fierce Trump loyalist

FHFA, an independent housing agency founded in 2008, is conservator of Fannie and Freddie and oversees the Federal Home Loan Bank System and its 11 banks.

As head of FHFA, the 38-year-old Pulte has been seen as a loyalist after pushing several investigations of Trump's political enemies. Pulte sacked a number of leaders and board members at Fannie and Freddie shortly after he was appointed last year.

He called for investigations of former Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell for cost overruns related to the Fed's $2.5 billion headquarters renovation in Washington, D.C. Pulte also accused Fed board member Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud, after Trump publicly feuded with Fed leaders for perceived slowness to lower mortgage rates.

Cook hasn't been criminally charged in the matter, and Trump's attempt to fire her over Pulte's allegations is currently hung up in the Supreme Court.

Pulte has also implemented some of Trump's ideas to improve housing affordability. He's helped lead an effort to modernize credit scoring models to help more Americans qualify for a mortgage. He also floated the idea of 50-year mortgages to make homes more attainable, though later backed off that idea.

Washington reacts

Taking questions for the White House later Tuesday, Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, defended Trump's decision.

"I think Bill's a great guy, I know him socially, I do not work with him in his current job, but I do trust the President's judgment," Oz said, calling Trump "a very quick study on people."

Democrats were quick to levy criticism on Pulte, who has not held a role in national security before.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, overseeing the agencies, didn't respond to a request for comment. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Maryland), the committee's ranking member, criticized the appointment in a series of posts on X. He said Pulte lacks relevant experience, and used his role at FHFA "to pursue political retribution."

"Elevating him to oversee the Intelligence Community makes clear that this president is not looking for an intelligence leader who will follow the facts or speak truth to power, but rather someone who will be willing to shape intelligence around the president’s wishes, regardless of the cost to the American people," wrote Warner.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-Massachusetts), ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, also criticized the appointment.

"Today, President Trump is rewarding his lackey—who has no national security experience—with a perch atop our nation’s intelligence community," Warren said. "What could go wrong?”