Fannie, Freddie chief to Powell: Cut rates or resign
The head of the federal agency responsible for overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac called Wednesday for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to resign if the central bank did not cut rates that day.
In a Wednesday post on social media, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte accused Powell of refusing to do his job by not cutting interest rates at President Trump's request.
Both the Fed and FHFA are independent federal agencies charged with overseeing critically important parts of the U.S. financial system. Congress designed those agencies to be immune from the political pressures exhibited by both Trump and Pulte.
'Because President Trump has crushed inflation, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell needs to lower interest rates today, and if not Chairman Powell needs to resign, immediately. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can help so many more Americans if Chair Powell will just do his job and lower rates,' Pulte wrote on social platform X, just half an hour before the Fed was expected to announce it would keep rates unchanged.
As FHFA director, Pulte is responsible for overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — two companies under federal conservatorship that package U.S. mortgages into investment products.
Both companies have been under control of the federal government since the collapse of the housing market during the 2007-08 financial crisis.
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