The Trump administration fired Freddie Mac's CEO and two top officials at the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Thursday.
Newly minted FHFA Director Bill Pulte fired Freddie Mac CEO Diana Reid, who had served in that role since September. According to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Michael T. Hutchins will serve the dual role of interim president and CEO, taking Reid's seat on the board of directors at Freddie Mac, formally known as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
He previously served as Freddie Mac’s interim CEO from March 2024 to September 2024, according to the SEC filing. He was executive vice president of investments and capital markets from January 2015 to November 2020 and senior vice president of investments and capital markets from July 2013 to January 2015. From 2007 to 2013, before joining Freddie Mac, Hutchins was co-founder and CEO of PrinceRidge, a financial services firm.
The Trump administration also put two top executives at the Federal Housing Finance Agency on leave: Gina Cross, the chief operations officer, and the head of human resources, Dionne Wallace Oakley.
The changes were made three days after Pulte named himself chairman of the board of directors at Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, known as Fannie Mae. Pulte removed eight members of Fannie Mae's board and appointed agency general counsel Clinton Jones to one of the seats. He also appointed Christopher Stanley, a cybersecurity engineer at SpaceX, but Stanley, who also has a role in the Department of Government Efficiency, resigned abruptly the next day. The remaining board members are Priscilla Almodovar, Renee Glover, Karin Kimbrough, Manolo Sanchez Rodriguez and Scott Stowell.
In addition to the cuts at Freddie Mac and the FHFA, the administration placed 35 unionized staff members at Fannie Mae on administrative leave.
The government has overseen Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since the 2008 mortgage crisis amid concerns over the organizations' financial stability. President Donald Trump has said he wants to release them from conservatorship and make them private.
Launched in 1938, Fannie Mae purchases mortgages from banks and sells them to investors as securities. Banks then use them to provide more mortgages.
The Trump administration and Musk's DOGE aim to reduce the national debt in part by slimming the federal workforce. News reports and industry experts had expected cuts at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Some industry leaders remain unfazed by the cutbacks, including Dawn Bauman, senior vice president of government and public affairs at the nonprofit Community Associations Institute and executive director of the Foundation for Community Association Research in Falls Church, Virginia.
“I believe there is a focus right now on eliminating bureaucracy and barriers that may not be necessary or practical for Americans,” Bauman said in an interview. “I am hopeful that director Pulte will make positive changes.”
Community Associations Institute gathers data and represents the interests of condominiums and co-op communities across the globe.
Bauman said she hopes lending requirements will allow higher lending approvals at condominiums and co-ops.
“We are pleased to have Bill Pulte in place as FHFA director,” she said, “and we are hopeful that regardless of who is being laid off at Fannie and Freddie that he can take quick action" on lending options.