Senate confirms Bill Pulte to head Federal Housing Finance Agency with bipartisan support

Washington ― The U.S. Senate voted 56-43 on Thursday to confirm Bill Pulte, a businessman with ties to Michigan, to serve as the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Pulte recently said that under President Donald Trump "we will usher in the golden age of home ownership."

Three Democratic senators joined Republicans in voting for Pulte: U.S. Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Holly, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Ruben Gallego of Arizona. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, voted no.

The FHFA is a federal regulatory agency charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored housing giants that guarantee most mortgages in the U.S.

Pulte was raised in Florida and was most recently a resident of Boca Raton. His grandfather, William Pulte, founded the home construction company PulteGroup in 1950 in Detroit. PulteGroup, one of the country's largest homebuilding businesses, moved its headquarters from Bloomfield Hills to Georgia in 2014.

Pulte said he joined his grandfather's company during what he described as a "difficult" period of poor management to revitalize it with others and said the firm is now more than three times the size as when he stepped in. During a hearing last month, he acknowledged periods of hardship including the 2008 housing crash and the 2020 pandemic as also shaping his views of the country's housing finance system.

"If confirmed, my No. 1 mission will be to strengthen and safeguard the housing finance system," Pulte said in his hearing before the Senate Banking panel two weeks ago.

"Safe and sound housing markets are the foundation of American home ownership. Additionally, we must ensure that the limited home inventory in this country goes to Americans."

Pulte in recent years made a name for himself as a philanthropist on social media, where he's given away money to individuals in need. He claimed that he has contributed millions of dollars to families facing foreclosure or utility shutoffs.

Unlike kids who spent their weekends growing up at sporting events, Pulte said he went on visits to homebuilding job sites with his father and grandfather.

"From the ground up, I learned every aspect of housing, whether it was cleaning job sites, assisting in construction or helping sell homes. From an early age, I developed a deep passion for home ownership and putting a roof over people's heads," Pulte said.

"This passion remains my driving force today, and it would guide my work if confirmed as FHFA director."

Banking Chairman Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, emphasized the generations of housing expertise in Pulte's family and highlighted his time working through the nonprofit Blight Authority in partnership with Mayor Dave Bing in Detroit to clear out abandoned homes and structures in the city.

"Every kid should be able to walk safely to school and not worry about ... being dragged into a dangerous building," Pulte said.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts last week excoriated Pulte for refusing to say he'd prevent Trump allies from privatizing Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Warren, who voted against advancing Pulte's nomination out of the Banking committee, was also unhappy that Pulte refused to turn over 25,000 tweets that he deleted after November's election and which Warren had requested copies of.

As part of an ethics agreement, Pulte intends to step down from multiple entities in which he holds positions including Pulte Capital Partners LLC and Pulte Family office, both investment firms, as well as his roles as chairman or president of the nonprofits Blight Authority and Team Pulte, and several other software, holding and HVAC companies.

mburke@detroitnews.com