“POLITICAL RETRIBUTION”
Pulte has also championed a mortgage fraud case against US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, based on which Trump attempted to fire the monetary policy maker. That case is pending before the Supreme Court.
The heir to a home-building fortune, Pulte has polarized many, even within Trump’s circle, with his aggressive and public political actions.
US Democratic lawmakers took aim at Pulte’s lack of experience and history of targeting Trump’s opponents.
Mark Warner, the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Pulte appears to have been chosen “because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need.”
“The president has chosen an official who has demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution,” Warner said in a statement.
And top Democrat Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that someone who would file “baseless, political, and outrageous charges against political office holders he doesn’t like can’t be entrusted to protect our national security.”
Vice President JD Vance meanwhile came to Pulte’s defense, describing him in a social media post as a “great guy who recognizes that the bureaucracy of the intel community must respond to the elected leadership (rather than the other way around).”
Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, declined to comment on Pulte’s qualifications during a briefing at the White House on Tuesday.
Pulte has fired internal ethics watchdogs who were investigating his own allies, characterizing those moves as a way to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies – which Trump has sought to purge from the US government – at Fannie Mae.
On housing finance, he has championed the introduction of a 50-year mortgage in the United States, a proposal that has enraged many in the MAGA movement.
Pulte has fallen out with his family over the future of their PulteGroup company and left its board in 2020.
US media report that he has fallen out with those in Trump’s inner circle, too.
In 2025, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to punch Pulte at a dinner at a private club, according to the Wall Street Journal and Politico.
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