Years before Lisa Cook became President Trump’s latest target in his effort to exert control over the Federal Reserve, she wrote about her experience as one of a relative handful of Black women in a field long dominated by white men.
“Economics is neither a welcoming nor a supportive profession for women,” she and a colleague wrote in a New York Times opinion essay in 2019. She added, “But if economics is hostile to women, it is especially antagonistic to Black women.”
Three years later, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. nominated Ms. Cook to the Fed’s powerful Board of Governors. Her confirmation process was a difficult one — she faced repeated questions about her qualifications despite a résumé that included stints at the Treasury Department and the White House as well as extensive academic experience.
She was confirmed, but narrowly: Vice President Kamala Harris broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate after Republicans voted overwhelmingly against her appointment. She was the first — and remains the only — Black woman to serve as a Fed governor.
Mr. Trump is now trying to force Ms. Cook out of that job. On Wednesday, Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, accused her on social media of falsifying bank records and other documents in order to obtain favorable terms on a mortgage before she joined the Fed. Mr. Trump on Friday threatened to fire Ms. Cook if she didn’t resign.
Ms. Cook did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. In a statement released by the Fed on Wednesday, she said she had “no intention of being bullied” and pledged to gather “accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts.”
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The post Lisa Cook, Who Broke Ground at the Fed, Faces Attack by Trump appeared first on New York Times.
