Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), launched an all-out attack on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell this week, calling for the central banker’s resignation and sharply criticizing his recent decision to not cut interest rates.
Pulte fired off more than a dozen Powell-related posts on the social media platform X on Wednesday and Thursday following the announcement that the Fed decided to keep the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at 4.25% to 4.5%. The first came seven minutes after the announcement and simply read: “Jerome Powell needs to resign.”
The FHFA director elaborated on his stance in a series of subsequent posts arguing that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policies are hurting the housing market by keeping mortgage rates higher. While the Fed does not directly influence mortgage rates, the fed funds rate does affect Treasury yields, which in turn impact lending costs.
“As Chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, I can tell you that Jay Powell is hurting the housing market by being Too Late to lower rates,” Pulte wrote in one post. “He needs to resign, effective immediately.”
In another missive, Pulte called it “reckless” to keep rates at their current level, pointing to the fact that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has hovered close to 7% in recent months. He then took direct aim at Powell a few hours later, calling him “a main reason for the Housing Supply Crisis in this Country.”
“By improperly keeping interest rates high, Jerome Powell is trapping homeowners in low-rate mortgages and choking off existing home sales — directly fueling the housing supply crisis,” Pulte claimed. “He must lower rates.”
Pulte’s views largely echo those of President Donald Trump, who took to his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday to lambast the Fed chair.
“‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell is costing our Country Hundreds of Billions of Dollars,” Trump wrote. “He is truly one of the dumbest, and most destructive, people in Government, and the Fed Board is complicit.”
Powell does not interact on social media. His last public comments came during Wednesday’s press conference immediately following the rate decision announcement, when he cited concerns about the potential inflationary impacts of the Trump administration’s global tariff policies as a primary reason for not lowering rates.
“Increases in tariffs this year are likely to push up prices and weigh on economic activity,” Powell said. “The effects on inflation could be short-lived, reflecting a one-time shift in the price level. It’s also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent.”
The Fed chair also addressed the housing market during the media event, saying that the central bank is focused on achieving its dual mandate of maintaining stable prices and maximum employment.
“I think the best thing we can do for the housing market is to restore price stability in a sustainable way and create a strong labor market,” Powell stated.
On Friday, Pulte continued his attacks on Powell during an appearance on a Fox Business program, claiming without specific evidence that the Fed chair’s rate decision was politically motivated.
“What data is he looking at to keep up rates? He’s looking at no data,” Pulte alleged. “He’s looking at his own hate, in my opinion, for President Trump, which is disgusting.”
