The White House is rescheduling its planned hearing on Thursday with Lisa D. Cook, the Federal Reserve governor whom President Trump has tried to fire over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud.
The hearing is now set for Dec. 14, according to a White House official. The move came days after Ms. Cook’s lawyers said she could not participate on Nov. 5 because of schedule conflicts.
Lawyers for Ms. Cook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Her lawyers have raised a litany of concerns about the investigation, which is being overseen by three of the president’s political appointees.
The high-stakes battle for the Fed began last year, after Mr. Trump and his top aides claimed that Ms. Cook had misrepresented her finances in order to obtain more favorable mortgage terms. She has denied the charges, which have never been brought in court.
The president still attempted to oust Ms. Cook from her Senate-confirmed post, a move that stoked widespread opposition out of concern that Mr. Trump could politicize the Fed, a politically independent institution that sets the nation’s monetary policy. It coincided with a parallel effort by the president to pressure the central bank into lowering interest rates.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court blocked Mr. Trump in June, after the justices found that the White House did not afford Ms. Cook a full opportunity to respond to the allegations. But even in defeat, the president did not back down, setting in motion a monthslong effort by the administration to try again.
In October, the president commissioned a special panel to investigate the matter and report back on whether there would be grounds for “Governor Cook’s removal.” The committee appeared to be calibrated in a way to address the justices’ concerns, though Mr. Trump stocked its members with three allies and deputies.
As a result, Ms. Cook’s lawyers then raised “significant concerns” over the “objectivity and fitness of the committee,” given the president’s past threats and the actions and comments of the panel’s members.
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