US-backed mortgage giant Fannie Mae cuts more than 62 jobs across departments

(Reuters) -U.S.?government-sponsored mortgage enterprise Fannie Mae has cut more than 62 jobs across departments, including Information Technology,?and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte said on Thursday.

"We, like any business, must eliminate positions that are not core, or otherwise, to mortgages and new home sales. We have 7,000+ employees!" Pulte said in a post on X.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration fired about a dozen officials within Fannie Mae's ethics and internal investigations unit, eliminating some guardrails meant to address and head off misconduct.

Fannie Mae and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The Trump administration is evaluating a public offering for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, possibly as soon as the end of 2025, Pulte said earlier this month.

The enterprises were created to support homeownership by providing affordable mortgage financing, but suffered overwhelming losses when the market collapsed in 2008 and were placed in conservatorship under the FHFA.

(Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Chang)