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Bill Pulte, President Trump\u2019s director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, moved this week to slash the inspector general\u2019s office that scrutinizes his actions, prompting calls from congressional Democrats for his resignation.<\/p>\n
It was the second time that Trump administration officials have taken steps to limit scrutiny of the federal regulatory agency run by Mr. Pulte, who has become one of the administration’s most contentious figures because he prides himself on carrying out investigations into Mr. Trump\u2019s rivals.<\/p>\n
In November, the Trump administration removed Joe Allen, the F.H.F.A.\u2019s acting inspector general, after congressional Democrats asked Mr. Allen to investigate Mr. Pulte\u2019s \u201ctroubling and unprecedented politicization<\/a> of the agency\u2019s investigative functions\u201d by targeting. the president\u2019s perceived enemies.<\/p>\n The inspector general\u2019s office has remained without a permanent leader. Now, Mr. Pulte has announced plans to make even more significant cuts, with reductions so severe that agency staff told Congress they would cause the inspector general\u2019s office to \u201cwind down its operations,\u201d according to Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In response, Democratic leaders in Congress called on Mr. Pulte to resign.<\/a><\/p>\n Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, took aim at Mr. Pulte\u2019s cuts in a hearing Thursday, accusing him of \u201cunlawfully shutting down the work of the inspector general responsible for investigating misconduct at the Federal Housing Finance Agency and in multitrillion dollar mortgage markets.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Warren read aloud from a letter that staff from the agency\u2019s inspector general\u2019s office sent to Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d the letter stated.<\/p>\n \u201cThese cuts will mean more fraud in the mortgage market, more cheating of families, higher costs for people trying to buy a home,\u201d Ms. Warren said. \u201cAnd why? Why? So Bill Pulte can dismantle a watchdog that would hold him accountable for his misconduct weaponizing the F.H.F.A. to persecute President Trump\u2019s perceived political enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n Inspectors general, by law, are tasked with preventing and detecting fraud, waste and abuse related to their agencies, while promoting efficiency in agency programs and operations. While they exist within respective federal agencies, they are designed to act independently and in a nonpartisan manner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In a statement, Mr. Pulte\u2019s agency said he was merely trying to \u201cright size\u201d the inspector general\u2019s office, which he argued had grown too large when compared to other agencies.<\/a> He said other inspectors general use just 2 percent of their agency\u2019s operating budget, while the F.H.F.A.\u2019s inspector general uses 16 percent.<\/p>\n \u201cF.H.F.A. is not cutting oversight,\u201d the agency said in an email seeking comment.<\/p>\n Mr. Pulte attacked Ms. Warren on social media with the nickname \u201cPocahontas,\u201d the insult the president uses for the senator.<\/p>\n \u201cElizabeth \u2018Pocahontas\u2019 Warren is introducing a bill tonight to kill this good financial stewardship to align our IG\u2019s office with its Peer IG Offices,\u201d Mr. Pulte wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s very sad that Pocahontas wants to waste precious federal money like a drunken sailor.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Pulte has targeted Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat of California who led an impeachment effort against Mr. Trump, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who pursued a civil fraud judgment against Mr. Trump and his family business, among others.<\/p>\n Staff in inspectors general offices across the federal government have been operating in a state of fear<\/a> since Mr. Trump fired or demoted at least 20 inspectors general in his second term, and instituted staff reductions of up to 30 percent in some office<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since the mass firings<\/a>, the president has appointed some government watchdogs with overtly political backgrounds. And they have directed their investigations toward allegations of fraud at the state level,<\/a> instead of targeting the agencies <\/span>that they are meant to scrutinize.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mark Greenblatt, who was the inspector general for the Interior Department before Mr. Trump fired him last year, said Mr. Pulte is comparing apples to oranges in his criticism of the F.H.F.A. inspector general office\u2019s size. Unlike some other offices, it has a broad mandate to investigate mortgage fraud across the country.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my 20 years in the oversight community, it is unheard of for an agency head to cut an OIG\u2019s budget and effectively try to starve them out of existence,\u201d he said. \u201cThis should raise red flags for every American taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n