At Hearing, Ranking Member Warren Reveals FHFA Director Pulte's Attempt to Defund, Dismantle Agency Watchdog

At Hearing, Ranking Member Warren Reveals FHFA Director Pulte's Attempt to Defund, Dismantle Agency Watchdog

"Mr. Pulte should resign, and if he doesn't, we should hold him accountable right here in Congress."

Watch Remarks Here (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered opening remarks ahead of a Committee hearing on the nominations of Jeremy Wiggins to be Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, Matthew Jones to be Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, David Slade to be First Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), and Michael Rigas to be a Member of the Board of Directors at EXIM.

In her remarks, Ranking Member Warren submitted into the Committee record a letter to Congress from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Office of Inspector General that describes how FHFA Director Bill Pulte is dismantling the watchdog office by imposing extreme budget cuts. The Ranking Member raised concerns that Pulte's move will eliminate the independent watchdog that would hold him accountable for weaponizing the FHFA to persecute President Trump's political opponents and investigate other instances of waste, fraud, and abuse in the housing finance market that has occurred on Pulte's watch. Ranking Member Warren also noted that Senate Republicans objected to an effort by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto yesterday to pass a bill that would protect the FHFA Office of Inspector General's budget.

Transcript of Ranking Member Warren's opening statement below:

Now Mr. Chairman, you know I appreciate the work we've done together, but we shouldn't be holding this hearing today.

Senators have a constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent on executive branch nominations and many of them can't do that today. Why? Because Republican Majority Leader John Thune sent members home last night.

Committees almost never hold nomination hearings when the Senate has adjourned for recess: It is irresponsible to wave senior officials through the process without giving every Senator the opportunity to ask questions and the American people the right to hear the answers. But instead of waiting until the Senate is back in session, you're ramming through Donald Trump's lapdogs without a full and fair hearing the kind the American people deserve.

It's no surprise why. The scope of President Trump's failures becomes more visible every day. Republicans would rather provide cover for this President's disastrous agenda than grow a spine and do what's right for the American people.

Trump's chaotic tariffs have raised costs on everything from groceries to housing. Typical families are now spending over $1,100 more than they were spending on groceries and housing before Donald Trump was sworn in.

Trump promised his war with Iran would last "four to six weeks." Seven months later, diesel and gasoline prices are surging. The average family has spent nearly $700 more on gasoline just since Trump started his war.

Mortgage rates are now over 7%-up over a full percentage point since Donald Trump started his war. For a typical home, that adds about $194 to their monthly payment.

And paychecks aren't keeping up: real wages have fallen by 0.7% since Trump's war in Iran began.

American families are suffering as a direct result of the decisions of Donald Trump. And meanwhile, President Trump, his family, and his billionaire buddies-boy they're getting rich-and their corruption is costing American families even more.

I fear the nominees in front of us today will only make things worse.

We have two nominees for key positions at the EXIM Bank, Mr. Slade and Mr. Rigas. The small businesses and big manufacturers that use EXIM are hurting from the President's war and from the President's tariffs, which have raised the cost of materials while record diesel prices drive up the cost of shipping.

We need the EXIM bank to strengthen critical supply chains and help small businesses in the United States grow and compete, and there is broad bipartisan support for an EXIM reauthorization.

But the deep corruption that runs through President Trump's Administration, is now making its way to EXIM.

Let me tell you just a minute about the Kazakh tungsten mine.

According to news reports, the President of Kazakhstan privately told President Trump in September 2025 that an American company would be granted the right to develop a massive tungsten mine-a deal that the Trump Administration helped negotiate.

Now according to those same reports, the following month-before there was any public announcement of the pending deal-Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. and their buddies began making massive investments in this project.

Now does anyone in this room believe that's a coincidence? Anyone?

Now, this mining project is expected to seek $2 billion of federal loans, nearly half from EXIM-a project that would be approved by the Trump-appointed Board members who sit before us today.

This deal reeks of corruption. EXIM loans should be used in the public interest, not to help President Trump and his family find one more way to feast off US taxpayers.

Meanwhile, President Trump has refused to nominate any Democrats to the EXIM board, leaving two seats empty. And he fired EXIM's independent Inspector General last fall-you know, the guy who is supposed to investigate if someone breaks the rules. First the corruption, then the coverup-and now the chance for more corruption.

We have to prevent President Trump and his billionaire buddies from profiting off the Bank at the expense of American taxpayers and honest American businesses.

I'll have questions for both EXIM nominees about whether they will facilitate corruption or work to end it.

And we have two other nominees today: Mr. Wiggins, the nominee for Assistant Secretary for International Trade and Development at Treasury. Who will be saddled with Trump's disastrous international economic policies-including chaotic tariffs that the Joint Economic Council indicates have already cost American families more than $1,700 per family, and the war that has sent gasoline and diesel prices soaring.

And Mr. Jones, who would be Assistant Secretary for Housing and FHA Commissioner at HUD, will have a tough job addressing the surging mortgage rates and unaffordable home prices caused by Trump's failures. And the problem is now set to get worse. Just last night, we learned that Bill Pulte is unlawfully shutting down the work of the Inspector General responsible for investigating misconduct at the Federal Housing Finance Agency and in multi-trillion dollar mortgage markets.

The Inspector General's office alerted Congress that the cuts will effectively shut down its work. I ask that its letter be entered into the record.

Here are just a few key takeaways from the letter:

"We will be forced to reduce staffing by approximately 70-80% in FY 2027, which will result in the discontinuance of essentially all criminal investigations conducted by our Office of Investigations."

"Funding at the $20 million level will eliminate our capacity to effectively conduct criminal investigations of mortgage, bank, and other fraud schemes involving the entities FHFA regulates."

And another:

"We will be forced to cease supporting ongoing criminal investigations as soon as feasible after consultation with the Department of Justice and the more than 30 U.S. Attorneys Offices in which we have ongoing investigations."

These cuts will mean more fraud in the mortgage market, more cheating of families, higher costs for people trying to buy a home. And why? Why? So Bill Pulte can dismantle a watchdog that would hold him accountable for his misconduct weaponizing the FHFA to persecute President Trump's perceived political enemies.

Last night, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto went to the floor to pass her bill to ensure that the FHFA Inspector General, not Bill Pulte, determines the amount of funding it has available to conduct these criminal investigations.

Senator Moreno stood and objected, assuring us that, quote, "Current law already funds this office. It has more than 100 employees." Shortly after Senator Moreno made that speech, Bill Pulte quickly embarrassed Senator Moreno and the Republican Senators, imposing massive cuts that will force the agency to fire most of those people and start turning off the lights on ongoing investigations.

Mr. Pulte should resign, and if he doesn't, we should hold him accountable right here in Congress.

This is not the moment to be pushing through more Trump cronies. The American people deserve nominees focused on lowering costs and safeguarding our economic security, not rubber stamping Trump's chaotic and corrupt policies.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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