Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, fired about a dozen senior executives at Fannie Mae shortly after returning to his FHFA role, according to two people familiar with the matter. Fannie Mae guarantees $4.1 trillion in U.S. mortgages.
Fannie Mae fires roughly a dozen senior executives days after Pulte returns to FHFA
Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, fired about a dozen senior executives at Fannie Mae shortly after returning to his FHFA role, according to two people familiar with the matter. Fannie Mae guarantees $4.1 trillion in U.S. mortgages.
Among those dismissed were Senior Vice President of Capital Markets Devang Doshi and Multifamily Chief Financial Officer Brian Hensen, according to people involved. Their bio pages on the company's website were redirecting to 404-error pages the day after announcements were made on Wednesday that they would lose their jobs, the source said. The firings were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
One person involved in the effort, who requested anonymity to describe personnel matters, said the firings were operational rather than ideological. 'Mostly it was operational. We just don't need them anymore, especially in the D.C. office,' that person said. 'With the advent of AI and stuff, we have gotten a lot of savings.'
The latest firings follow earlier rounds of personnel changes at FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Pulte, 38, an heir to a developer dynasty, oversaw hundreds of firings and replaced the chief executives of both government-sponsored enterprises during his first months at FHFA. He also reported overseeing five rounds of layoffs during a six-week period as acting director of national intelligence, which he said eliminated approximately 30 percent of that agency's staff.
Pulte has drawn scrutiny on other fronts. The Government Accountability Office has opened an investigation into his use of typically private mortgage data to accuse figures including Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud. Officials said Pulte pushed for the replacement of Erik Siebert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, after Siebert did not indict a Trump opponent on mortgage fraud charges; the replacement, Lindsey Halligan, was later disqualified by a federal judge, and her major indictments have since been dismissed.
When 61 former Fannie Mae employees sued Pulte for defamation after he accused them, without evidence, of receiving 'kickbacks' for charitable donations, a judge dismissed the case, finding that Pulte's government position gave him legal immunity.
Pulte has also drawn attention for other actions during his tenure. He proposed a new standard 50-year mortgage, which President Trump briefly endorsed before a bipartisan backlash from policy makers who argued Americans would lose equity gains. On a single day in July 2025, Pulte posted 15 separate attacks on Jerome Powell, then chair of the Federal Reserve, including a post requesting to tour the Fed building over what he called 'ridiculous renovations' he believed 'are riddled with fraud.'
- The source does not state the exact number of executives fired beyond 'about a dozen.'
- Spokespeople for Fannie Mae and FHFA did not respond to requests for comment, so neither organization's official position is included.
- Doshi, Hensen, and others dismissed did not respond to requests for comment, so their accounts of the firings are absent.
- The source does not state the current status of the GAO investigation into Pulte's use of mortgage data.
- The source does not specify which roles, if any, will replace those of the dismissed executives.
- The source does not state whether Trump or the White House directly authorized or was informed of the latest round of firings at Fannie Mae.
Read the original at The Atlantic