Fannie Mae dismissed 10 senior executives this week in another wave of turnover at the government-sponsored mortgage investor.
A source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed that the employees were based in the company’s Washington, D.C., headquarters and were terminated within a three-hour window on Wednesday. They attributed the layoffs to much of the work now being done by artificial intelligence.
The source also indicated that headcount reductions may continue, telling Scotsman Guide, “Who knows what the future will bring.”
Fannie Mae has not returned multiple requests for comment.
Mark Palim, chief economist for Fannie Mae since early 2025, was one of the individuals released, Scotsman Guide has confirmed. Palim’s employee profile on the company’s website had been removed as of early Friday, in addition to those of the following:
- Chuck Walker, chief operating officer of Fannie’s multifamily business
- Devang Doshi, senior vice president of capital markets
- Brian Hansen, chief financial officer of Fannie’s multifamily business
- Dana Brown, vice president of low-income housing tax credit customer management
Other terminations that Scotsman Guide has independently confirmed include high-ranking and long-serving employees in offices connected to public affairs, regulatory affairs and economic research and analysis.
Fannie Mae representatives called larger lender partners Thursday evening about the headcount reductions. A source aware of those conversations told Scotsman Guide that it was standard procedure for such organizational changes.
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Industry sources have expressed concern about the recent personnel changes.
“A brain drain of qualified, experienced people could adversely affect Fannie Mae’s ability to respond to market developments, monitor risk or execute on mortgage purchases — at a time of rising mortgage rates and continued homeownership affordability challenges,” noted one mortgage veteran.
Wednesday’s terminations are the latest in a series of leadership upheavals roiling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since Bill Pulte, who also serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency that oversees the government-sponsored enterprises, took over as chairman of both companies’ boards early in the second Trump administration.
Shortly after taking office in March 2025, Pulte ousted 14 members of the Fannie and Freddie boards and fired Nancy Jardini, Fannie Mae’s chief compliance and ethics officer. Regulatory filings show Fannie shed about 1,200 employees over the course of 2025, or about 15% of the company’s workforce.
In October, Priscilla Almodovar stepped down as Fannie Mae’s CEO after serving as top executive since 2022. She was replaced by Peter Akwaboah, who has remained as acting CEO since.
This week’s firings follow the recent publication of updated Fannie Mae economic forecasts predicting significantly worse mortgage market conditions through the rest of 2026 and into 2027. Those forecasts are produced by Fannie’s Economic and Strategic Research Group, which until this week was led by Palim.





