The nation's top housing regulator took "unprecedented" steps to hinder investigations by its inspector general, the watchdog told lawmakers in a report published Monday. 

The accusations – delivered in the Office of Inspector General's semiannual report to Congress – are the latest escalation in a feud between Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte and his congressionally mandated overseers. Pulte announced on social media in September that he would be slashing the OIG budget by more than 60%. 

The FHFA regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-owned mortgage companies with $7.8 trillion in assets underpinning the mortgage market. Its inspector general is charged with policing mortgage fraud that could pose risk to their portfolios. It is also the office charged with investigating potential improprieties by agency leadership.

"OIG's Office of Evaluations was unable to publish three reports" over the six months ending Sept. 30 "due to FHFA's refusal to provide enterprise records and information when requested," according to the report. Fannie and Freddie are sometimes called government-sponsored enterprises.But FHFA spokesman Jonathan Coppage said that the agency had "delivered every document and engaged in every interview the IG has requested under its statutory authorities." 

"FHFA has readily produced the hundreds of pages of documents and engaged in hours of interviews that the OIG requested regarding FHFA's oversight of Fannie and Freddie multifamily business," Coppage added. "For example, for just three recent reviews we completed 56 document requests and 16 separate hour-long meetings." 

In an unusual letter to lawmakers hours after Pulte announced the sweeping budget cuts on Sept. 30, Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General James Hodge said the office would be forced to cut up to 80% of its staff and end most criminal inquiries. That decision will have "devastating consequences," the new report concludes. "The unprecedented and abrupt cuts will prevent OIG from conducting meaningful oversight of FHFA going forward." 

Coppage pointed out that the inspector general had requested a budget much larger than those of other inspectors general. "Independence does not mean exemption from fiscal accountability," he said. "FHFA remains willing to work with OIG to offer what support it needs to effectively budget and exercise reasonable financial stewardship in carrying out its statutory responsibilities, as is customary in every federal agency."

Hodge has maintained that the housing regulator watchdog is different from similar offices at other agencies because of the "enormous risks to the U.S. financial system inherent in the operations" of the entities FHFA regulates.

Agency leadership has also "eviscerated" the inspector general's ability to investigate and deter mortgage and bank fraud, according to the report. OIG investigations over the past six months recovered $29 million and resulted in 46 indictments.

Reuters earlier reported the OIG report, which was delivered to lawmakers Friday.