FHFA's Pulte Guts the Watchdog Office That Investigated His Own Conduct

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte notified his agency's Office of Inspector General on August 31, 2026, that its fiscal 2027 budget would fall from roughly $51.3 million to $20 million, a 61.3% cut the OIG says will force a 70-80% staffing reduction and end nearly all criminal mortgage-fraud investigations, including oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. The OIG notified Congress of the cut on September 30; FHFA says it is "peer-matching" the office's budget to other federal inspectors general.

The office being cut is the same one that investigated Pulte himself after Fannie Mae's ethics unit received complaints that senior officials, possibly including Pulte, had improperly directed staff to access the mortgage records of New York Attorney General Letitia James and others. That investigation was referred to federal prosecutors in Eastern Virginia and partly fed the since-dismissed indictment of James. Sens. Dick Durbin and Elizabeth Warren called the budget cut "unlawful" on October 1 and demanded Pulte's resignation.

FHFA has not reversed the cut as of this writing; the reduced OIG budget is set to take effect for fiscal 2027.