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Top executives from Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Finance Agency were dismissed from their roles Thursday, just days after FHFA Director Bille Pulte appointed himself as chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s boards, Semafor reported.
Among those dismissed were Freddie Mac CEO Diana Reid and Head of Human Resources Dionne Wallace Oakley. Additionally, FHFA COO Gina Cross and HR Director Monica Matthews were placed on administrative leave, Politico reported.
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Following Reid’s dismissal, Freddie Mac’s President Michael Hutchens has been named CEO. Hutchens previously served as interim CEO after the retirement of Michael Devito last March.
Scott Olson | Executive Director of Community Home Lenders of America
Scott Olson, executive director of the Community Home Lenders of America, says that despite the news, the changes won’t have a major impact on the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs).
“FHFA is already conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with virtually unlimited power over their operations, so these firings don’t really change much,” Olson told HousingWire. “Instead, CHLA is focused, going forward, on the key policies of Fannie and Freddie, like the ones identified in our letter to FHFA earlier this week – maintaining the GSEs’ footprint and a broad base of seller-servicer lenders.”
In the wake of Pulte’s appointment as chairman, he placed dozens of GSE employees on leave and removed 14 board members. Notably, Christopher Stanley, a staffer from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was appointed to Fannie Mae’s board, but resigned on March 18.
Additionally, Aaron Kofsky, former aide to Vice President J.D. Vance during his Senate tenure, has reportedly joined FHFA to help restructure the agency and it workforce.
Pulte is now mandating a return to work order at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after claiming fewer than 40 of Fannie Mae’s 2,500-plus employees regularly worked in the office. Before Reid was dismissed, she co-signed a mandate with Pulte mandating that Freddie Mac employees return to office five days a week beginning in May.
Recent changes over the week also include the FHFA’s closure of two of its departments — the Research and Statistics Division and the Division of Public Interest Examination (DPIE) — which eliminates approximately 10 percent of its workforce.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to note that DOGE staffer Christopher Stanley resigned from Fannie Mae’s board on March 18.
