President Donald Trump made his biggest step yet toward trying to seize control of the Federal Reserve on Monday, by ordering the firing of one of its seven governors: Lisa Cook.
The firing was legally dubious — Fed governors serve 14-year terms; Cook’s term expires in 2038, and she’s said she’ll contest her firing — but Trump relied on a pretext. Cook, he claimed, had committed mortgage fraud by declaring two separate residences as her primary residence.
The official who supplied that pretext — and who has been at the center of Trump’s efforts to wield mortgage fraud accusations to get his enemies prosecuted, as well as to get Fed chair Jerome Powell fired — is the 37-year-old director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte.
In addition to Cook, Pulte has used his position to scrutinize the mortgage records of two of Trump’s Democratic enemies: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Letitia James. He recommended that the Department of Justice consider prosecuting both for mortgage fraud, and prosecutors have since convened grand juries to try and make that happen.
He’s also publicly pressured Powell on social media, he gave Trump a draft letter that would have ordered Powell’s firing, and he’s tried to establish a pretext Trump could use to fire Powell.
Some of his allies hope this is just the start, and that even bigger things lie in Pulte’s future. “Bill Pulte would be an exceptional pick to run the Federal Reserve,” venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya posted on X in July.
“Attack dog” is an unusual role for the director of the FHFA, who is charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — the government-backed companies crucial to the functioning of US mortgage markets.
But it’s a good fit for Pulte. The grandson of the founder of a major home-building company, Pulte has demonstrated a remarkable knack for getting attention and building his public profile. He has 3 million followers on X, and his posts there have started to move markets, according to Bloomberg.
Pulte has his enemies in the administration; the Wall Street Journal reported his anti-Powell campaign has “irritated” some senior officials.
One person is quite happy with him, though. After that Journal story was published, Trump posted that Pulte was doing an “outstanding job,” and added: “KEEP MOVING FORWARD, WILLIAM, DON’T LET THE RADICAL LEFT WEAKLINGS STOP YOU!”
Until relatively recently, Pulte’s public persona hadn’t been particularly political. But he figured out a good way to gain entry into Trumpworld — by giving people money. He gave $500,000 to a pro-Trump Super PAC in 2022. He’d also donated to Turning Point USA, the young conservatives’ group co-founded by Charlie Kirk. (Kirk is a close ally of Donald Trump Jr.)
After Trump won in November 2024, he nominated Pulte for FHFA director; before his confirmation hearings, Pulte deleted tens of thousands of his old tweets, to Senate Democrats’ annoyance. Shortly after he was confirmed in March, Pulte posted on X: “You didn’t really think I’d stop tweeting did you”.
The FHFA job is a consequential one. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed under government conservatorship during the 2008 financial crisis, but the Trump team is now planning to reprivatize them. It is unclear how involved Pulte is in these discussions.
Pulte has, however, been quick to use his position to go after Trump’s enemies — specifically, James, the New York attorney general, and Sen. Schiff, who have for years been leading figures in Democrat-led investigations of Trump.
In April, Pulte wrote a letter to the Justice Department referring James for prosecution, arguing she lied on mortgage documents. In May, Pulte did the same thing with Schiff — news that became public earlier this month, when Trump posted about it.
Pulte took public credit for the Schiff investigation, and a confidential Fannie Mae memo alleging misconduct by Schiff — a memo addressed to Pulte — was provided to the Washington Post earlier this month.
Both Schiff and James have denied any wrongdoing and said they are being targeted politically, and it remains to be seen whether the DOJ will charge them. Federal prosecutors pursuing complex corruption cases against public officials have long found the mortgage fraud statute to be a useful tool — it’s relatively easy to prove, and it carries a steep, 30-year maximum sentence. But it’s not yet clear whether they have enough to make and sustain either case.
Pulte has not succeeded in pushing Powell out yet either. But there’s another way Trump could wrest control of the Fed — by replacing some of its seven-member board of governors. Two governors are already his allies, and he’s set to appoint a third to a vacant seat soon. That means he’d need one more seat for a majority.
So, all of a sudden, Pulte began raising questions about Lisa Cook’s mortgages — hoping to establish a pretext to fire her “for cause,” which would give Trump the fourth appointee he needs. Now, Trump has ordered Cook’s firing — and the courts will have to decide whether they’ll let it happen.
You can read Andrew's full story, including more details on Bill Pulte's career, on the Vox site here.
