By Pete Schroeder

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to confirm William Pulte to serve as the next director of the regulator charged with overseeing housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

By a vote of 56 to 43, the Senate confirmed Pulte's nomination, clearing the way for him to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a housing finance watchdog that will play a central role in any effort to return Fannie and Freddie to private control.

President Donald Trump nominated Pulte, a private equity executive whose family established one of the country's largest homebuilding companies, in January.

The FHFA regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have operated under U.S. government control since 2008 after suffering heavy losses during the subprime mortgage crisis. The regulator is expected to play a central role in any effort to return the pair, which back the majority of the nation's residential mortgages, to the private sector.

The Trump administration is expected to make ending the longrunning conservatorship a priority, after taking some steps to move them away from government control in his first term.

After being nominated, Pulte told Congress that the conservatorship should not continue indefinitely, but any removal of government backing must be carefully planned to minimize disruptions to the housing market.

(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

((Pete.Schroeder@thomsonreuters.com; 202-310-5485;))