Trump-appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte just dropped the hammer on FICO’s longtime stranglehold over American homebuyers.

On Thursday, Pulte announced that he is ordering mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to approve every lender seeking to use VantageScore as an alternative to FICO, effective immediately.

According to Pulte, the price charged for an individual FICO credit score has skyrocketed by an astounding 1,800% since 2020.

Enough is enough.

“Since 2020, FICO has increased the price per a person’s credit score by 1,800%,” Pulte wrote on X.

“FICO has enjoyed a monopoly. No more.”

Pulte continued:

Fannie and Freddie’s initial rollout of VantageScore has been incredibly successful, with 50 LENDERS DELIVERING LOANS.

So, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, I’m instructing Fannie and Freddie to approve ALL lenders to use VantageScore.

Since 2020, FICO has increased the price per a person’s credit score by 1,800%. FICO has enjoyed a monopoly. No more.

Fannie and Freddie’s initial rollout of VantageScore has been incredibly successful, with 50 LENDERS DELIVERING LOANS. So, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, I’m…

— Pulte (@pulte) September 4, 2026

The announcement significantly expands the Trump administration’s effort to introduce real competition into the mortgage credit-scoring market.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began accepting mortgages assessed with VantageScore 4.0 from approved lenders in April. Pulte said the initial rollout has already resulted in 50 lenders delivering loans using the alternative scoring model.

Now, instead of limiting the program to a select group, Pulte is opening the door to every eligible lender.

This is a massive blow to the cozy credit-scoring establishment that has forced American lenders and homebuyers to operate under a system dominated by one company for decades.

VantageScore 4.0 can reportedly consider additional financial information, including rent-payment history, potentially giving responsible Americans with limited traditional credit histories another opportunity to qualify for a mortgage.

The Community Home Lenders of America documented that FICO’s foundational price for a mortgage credit pull exploded from about 60 cents in 2022 to roughly $10 per pull, a 1,567 percent jump in three and a half years.

The group says a tri-merge credit report that cost about $50 per closed loan in 2022 now routinely exceeds $550 once multiple pulls are factored in.

CHLA called it “mortgage inflation run amok” and warned that another round of FICO hikes could land as early as fall 2027.

The reform traces back to President Trump’s first administration.

The Credit Score Competition Act of 2018, signed by President Trump in his first term, was supposed to break this logjam years ago.

The Deep State and the housing bureaucracy sat on it. Biden-era FHFA leadership dithered. Classic FICO remained the only score that mattered for the two companies that back nearly half of all U.S. residential mortgages.

In April, Pulte and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner announced that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration would begin implementing VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T, the first major modernization of federal mortgage credit-scoring models in decades.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are driving down costs across the homebuying process,” Pulte said at the time.

“We are modernizing credit scoring with more predictive models, helping millions of Americans who responsibly pay rent qualify for mortgages. That’s fair, it’s commonsense, and it’s finally delivering the benefits of competition to homebuyers nationwide.”

Pulte is not letting VantageScore’s owners off the hook, either.

VantageScore is jointly owned by the three major credit-reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

In a separate statement Thursday, Pulte accused the companies of overcharging Americans and warned that additional reforms could be coming.

“Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have been overcharging Americans for far too long,” Pulte said. “This will end soon.”

Pulte added that federal officials are considering a “bi-merge” reporting system and other “SAFER and SOUNDER” solutions to protect consumers.

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have been overcharging Americans for far too long. This will end soon. We are seriously considering bi-merge, and stronger solutions (SAFER and SOUNDER). We will not allow companies to take advantage of American consumers. No more.

— Pulte (@pulte) September 4, 2026

The post Trump Housing Chief Bill Pulte Smashes FICO’s Mortgage-Score Monopoly — Orders Fannie and Freddie to Approve ALL Lenders for VantageScore Effective Immediately appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Attorney General Catherine Hanaway warns the unprecedented ruling has plunged Missouri into a “full-fledged constitutional crisis” and threatens to disenfranchise voters statewide.

Late Thursday, Hanaway announced her office has officially filed for a stay at the Supreme Court of Missouri, a required first punch before an emergency sprint to the U.S. Supreme Court, after the state’s highest court did something no American court has ever done: rip up a congressional map after voters already chose nominees in a primary and before the general election.

As The Gateway Pundit reported earlier Thursday, the Missouri Supreme Court tossed the Missouri FIRST Map, the 7-1 congressional plan Republican lawmakers passed last year to give the Show-Me State an additional MAGA seat and end the Kansas City gerrymander that has protected Democrat Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.

The court ordered Missourians back onto the old 2022 lines for the Nov. 3 general election and put the new map itself on the November ballot.

Missouri already held its August primary under the new map. Candidates won. Voters picked their nominees. Campaigns spent months knocking doors in districts that a handful of judges in Jefferson City just declared never existed.

Now those same voters are being told the general election will be run on a different map.

Hanaway went straight at it on X:

“A republic, if you can keep it.” – Benjamin Franklin

Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election. This unprecedented decision clearly violates federal law and has thrust our state into a full‑fledged constitutional crisis.

Our office will move immediately to seek relief from SCOTUS. We are confident that the federal courts will not allow every Missouri voter to be disenfranchised—which is what today’s decision does.

Hours later came the update:

UPDATE: We’ve officially filed for a stay at SCOMO in this unprecedented case, a necessary step before our emergency appeal to SCOTUS.

UPDATE: We’ve officially filed for a stay at SCOMO in this unprecedented case, a necessary step before our emergency appeal to SCOTUS. https://t.co/5rCT8INtTd

— Attorney General Catherine L. Hanaway (@AGCHanaway) September 4, 2026

Last September, we reported that the Republican-controlled Missouri House OVERWHELMINGLY passed the new map, 90-65, slashing Democrats down to a single U.S. House seat. It wasn’t close.

The plan carved up Cleaver’s Kansas City stronghold and spread those voters into neighboring Republican districts. President Trump praised Missouri’s legislators and called the map “much fairer, and improved.”

Governor Mike Kehoe signed it. Hanaway’s office then spent a year beating back left-wing lawsuits in Jackson County and Cole County arguing the map was compact, constitutional, and the job of the elected legislature, not dark-money referendum mills.

Thursday’s unanimous opinion from Chief Judge Ginger Gooch flipped the script. The court said the referendum petition from People Not Politicians was “legal, sufficient, and timely,” that Secretary of State Denny Hoskins was wrong to keep it off the ballot, and that the 2025 map “is not the law and has never been the law.” Election officials were enjoined from using it in November unless voters first approve it.

Hoskins called it a constitutional crisis. Hanaway called it a constitutional crisis. President Trump called it a “Dark Day for ‘Justice’ in Missouri,” said the ruling was “horrible, ridiculous, and unConstitutional,” and demanded the state be allowed to use the same map that was in force at the primary.

The post UPDATE: Missouri AG Files Emergency Stay at State Supreme Court After ‘Wacky’ Ruling Tosses GOP Map AFTER the Primary appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton is sounding the alarm over the mountain of campaign cash pouring into Democrat James Talarico’s war chest from California and other liberal strongholds.

During a recent interview, Paxton accused California Democrats of attempting to buy another Senate seat, this time in the Lone Star State.

“California is trying to elect their third senator, and it’s James Talarico,” Paxton said.

“I would bet at least a third or more of his money, maybe half, has come in from the state of California,” he continued. “It’s California, New York, Chicago, not as much Texas.”

Talarico has amassed an eye-popping $72 million since the beginning of 2025, compared with approximately $16.8 million raised by Paxton through his campaign and joint fundraising committees.

Paxton explained that he entered the general-election contest at a major financial disadvantage after enduring a bruising three-month Republican runoff against longtime RINO Senator John Cornyn.

“As of June 1, I had zero dollars,” Paxton said. “He had already raised over $30 million.”

Campaign-finance reporting confirms that Talarico has relied significantly more on donors outside Texas than Paxton.

Fox News reviewed FEC records and found that in a late first-quarter stretch, about half of Talarico’s haul came from outside Texas.

Donors in California and New York alone dumped more than $1.3 million on him in six weeks. Paxton, in the same window, raised most of his money from Texans.

That’s the game. Talarico campaigns as an eighth-generation Texan while Silicon Valley and the blue-state donor class treat him like their new pet project.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who is connected to Jeffrey Epstein, has poured $11.5 million into Lone Star Rising, the super PAC boosting Talarico. That’s one California-tied billionaire writing checks bigger than entire Texas campaigns.

Approximately 55 percent of Talarico’s itemized contributions came from Texas, compared with 83 percent of Paxton’s. California and New York were the two largest sources of Talarico’s disclosed out-of-state contributions.

Talarico’s national liberal fundraising operation has allowed the Democrat to blanket Texas with campaign propaganda. By late August, his campaign had reportedly spent more than $25 million on advertising since Paxton secured the Republican nomination.

But the cavalry is beginning to arrive for Paxton.

President Donald Trump has thrown his full political weight behind the America First attorney general and has pledged to campaign aggressively in Texas.

“We’re working very hard. We want to win that race,” Trump told reporters before traveling to Houston for a Republican National Committee fundraising event supporting the GOP ticket.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Trump endorsed Paxton during the Republican runoff, describing him as a “true MAGA Warrior” who has repeatedly fought for Texas and the America First movement.

Following Paxton’s crushing victory over Cornyn, Trump promised to hold “big, beautiful rallies” for the Republican nominee as he battles Talarico in the general election.

Elon Musk is now jumping into the fight as well.

Musk’s America PAC has spent $247,595 since August 20 to boost Paxton’s campaign, the super PAC’s largest expenditure for any candidate in its first major spending wave of the 2026 midterms. The money reportedly went toward printed campaign materials, including direct mail, door hangers, postcards, canvassing literature, and yard signs.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, conservative commentator Jesse Kelly and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales warned that Talarico was flooding Texas television with advertisements financed in part by donations from California, New York, and other liberal states.

Paxton remains confident that Texas voters will reject the Democrats’ attempt to purchase the seat with a massive national fundraising machine.

The post “California Is Trying to Elect Their Third Senator!” — Ken Paxton Sounds Alarm on James Talarico’s Out-of-State Cash Haul as Trump and Elon Musk Rally Behind His Campaign appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

A depraved illegal alien who was previously deported and later slipped back into the United States is now wanted for allegedly sexually abusing and impregnating his own teenage daughter.

Sergio Galvez-Perez, a 38-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, is wanted in Monterey County after authorities say he fathered a child with his own 14-year-old daughter. Investigators say the girl was only 13 when she became pregnant.

The newborn, named Baby Angelita by detectives, was found dead on the side of Struve Road near Moss Landing on August 1, umbilical cord still attached, with signs of traumatic injury.

Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto confirmed Galvez-Perez is the biological father of both the teenager and the dead infant.

He is wanted on felony warrants for incest, lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, lewd acts with a minor, unlawful sexual intercourse, child concealment, and child endangerment. Authorities say he is hiding the girl and preventing law enforcement from finding her, according to the LA Times.

This monster should never have been on American streets.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to reporters that Galvez-Perez is a criminal illegal alien. ICE first arrested him in Florida in November 2007 and removed him from the United States in January 2008. He illegally reentered the country and was encountered by Border Patrol near San Ysidro in 2016. He stayed, the Daily Caller reported.

Then California protected him.

On July 11, 2023, ICE issued a detainer after Galvez-Perez was arrested for driving under the influence. California authorities did not honor it. Under Newsom’s sanctuary regime, the California Values Act (SB 54) and related state rules, local agencies are barred from holding people on ICE detainers and severely restricted from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. He walked.

DHS says his record already included operating a vehicle without a license, DUI, hit-and-run with property damage, battery, domestic violence, and aggravated assault.

Those are the “non-violent” cases sanctuary politicians pretend don’t count. Then came the charges now pending: incest and sex crimes against his own child.

The girl’s mother, Ofelia Garcia Ortega, was arrested on a child-endangerment charge and later released on bail. A murder warrant was issued for the 14-year-old, whom the sheriff also described as a victim of her father’s abuse.

The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office has filed charges against Galvez-Perez and said it has not yet received a charging packet on the girl. Both the father and the teenager remain at large.

Authorities warned the public not to approach him and urged anyone who sees him or the missing teenager to call 911 immediately.

Information may also be provided anonymously to Detective Richard Geng at 831-759-7279 or Detective Sergeant Nicholas Kennedy at 831-755-3773.

The post OUTRAGE: Repeat Illegal Alien Accused of Impregnating His Own 14-Year-Old Daughter Walked Free After Gavin Newsom’s Sanctuary California Ignored an ICE Detainer – Newborn Found Dead on the Road appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The Maine Supreme Court this week upheld a lower court ruling preventing a mother from taking her 13-year-old daughter to a church it referred to as a “cult.”

The decision could set a bad precedent for other jurisdictions to grab onto nationwide. But the religious liberty law firm representing the mother, Emily Westbrook, in the case has promised an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A look at Calvary Chapel of Greater Portland’s doctrines and description in the court opinion makes it sound like it believes in pretty standard Bible-based teaching: the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God; the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit); original sin; salvation through Jesus Christ; the Second Coming; and the rest.

Maine affiliate WMTW-TV reported that Westbrook challenged a 2024 custody order prohibiting her from taking her daughter to Calvary Chapel, arguing it violates her right to free exercise of religion guaranteed under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

“A district court judge sided with the child’s father, Matthew Bradeen, ruling that some of the church’s teachings could be psychologically harmful to the girl. The order allows Bradeen to solely decide on his daughter’s involvement with Calvary Chapel Church. When it comes to any other religious organization, the order states that the parents share rights and must discuss decisions,” WMTW further noted.

The Maine Supreme Court, in its unanimous decision Tuesday upholding the lower court’s order, said, “We are also unpersuaded by Bickford’s claim that the court evinced hostility toward her religion by describing her church in offensive terms, including referring to it as a ‘cult.’ The court used the word ‘cult’ only in describing the testimony of [Janja] Lalich, the stipulated expert on ‘cults.’”

“The court noted that ‘cult’ serves as a shorthand for what sociologists like Lalich call ‘closed social systems’ and that Lalich identified Bickford’s church as one of these systems. The court used ‘cult’ in summarizing Lalich’s testimony, but it did not otherwise refer to Bickford’s church as a cult or a closed social system,” the justices added.

“In these circumstances, we are satisfied that the court neither evinced hostility toward Bickford’s religion nor cast any legitimate doubt on its impartiality,” the court said.

With so many references to “cult,” it sure seems like hostility.

The court concluded, “In sum, despite Bickford’s efforts to recast the court’s order as a judgment about the substance of her religious beliefs, the court’s allocation of religious decision-making to Bradeen ultimately rested on no more than its findings that the parties are unable to coparent on matters of religion, such that it was therefore necessary to allocate decision-making to one or the other, and that Bradeen is better suited to determine whether certain religious activities are in the child’s best interest.”

So, given the choice of Christian church or no Christian church in the child’s upbringing, the court decided the latter was better.

Mat Staver, whose firm, Liberty Counsel, is representing Bickford, took the Maine Supreme Court to task for its ruling.

“This opinion rejects the First Amendment right of a fit parent to raise her child consistent with her Christian faith,” he said. “This opinion goes against other state court decisions involving custody in the context of religious free exercise rights and ignores precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court. We will ask the High Court to take this case and overrule the decision.”

“Depriving one parent [of] their right to instill their religious views into their child and granting sole authority to the other parent fails to give proper protection to parental rights and religious freedom under the First Amendment. The implications of this opinion pose a serious threat to religious freedom,” he added.

Liberty Counsel also posted on social media following Tuesday’s ruling, “Today, the Maine Supreme Court rejected the First Amendment and unanimously upheld this unlawful custody order preventing our client Emily Bickford from taking her daughter to church or any religious event because the girl’s father objects to biblical teachings.”

A Christian mom in Maine has been prohibited from taking her 13-year-old daughter to church or even read the Bible to her for nearly two years — not even for an Easter or Christmas service or a Bible study.

Today, the Maine Supreme Court rejected the First Amendment and… pic.twitter.com/x6GC9Jj1DZ

— Liberty Counsel (@libertycounsel) September 1, 2026

The U.S. Supreme Court has maintained a solid record of upholding religious liberty during the last several sessions, so hopefully they will take up this Maine decision and overrule it.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post Court Forbids Mom to Take Daughter, 13, to Normal Christian Church – Used the Word ‘Cult’ in Official Docs appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.