President Trump fired Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook Monday over allegations that she committed mortgage fraud.
“Pursuant to my authority under Article Il of the Constitution of the United States and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as amended, you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately,” Trump wrote in a letter addressed to Cook, which he posted on Truth Social.
Cook, however, argued that Trump has “no authority” to fire her and indicated that she’s not leaving her post, in a statement.
“President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so,” Cook said, according to multiple outlets. “I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022.”
The longtime academic, who previously served on former President Barack Obama’s White House Council of Economic Advisers and former President Joe Biden’s transition team, has hired former first son Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, to represent her.
In a statement, Lowell vowed to take “whatever actions are needed” to stop what he described as Trump’s “illegal action.”
Cook’s firing comes after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte accused the Federal Reserve board member of falsifying bank documents and property records to secure better loan terms, in a criminal referral sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi last week.
Pulte alleged in an X post that Cook had designated a condo in Atlanta as her primary residence in July 2021, just two weeks after taking a loan on her Michigan home, which she also declared as a primary residence.
The FHFA director has previously referred Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Democrat Attorney General Letitia James to the Justice Department over allegations of mortgage fraud.
Trump indicated that Cook was being fired “for cause,” and cited Pulte’s referral in his letter to Cook.
“The Federal Reserve Act provides that you may be removed, at my discretion, for cause,” the president wrote. “I have determined that there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position.”
After referencing the allegations against Cook raised by Pulte, Trump argued: “It is inconceivable that you were not aware of your first commitment when making the second. It is impossible that you intended to honor both.
“The Federal Reserve has tremendous responsibility for setting interest rates and regulating reserve and member banks,” the president continued. “The American people must be able to have full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve.
“In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter, they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.”
Trump said the documents uncovered by Pulte “at a minimum … calls into question your competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator.”
The commander in chief had called for Cook’s resignation last Wednesday, saying she “must resign, now!”
“I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” Cook said in a statement responding to Trump’s call for her to step down.
Cook’s removal creates a third vacancy on the Fed board for a Trump appointee.
In the coming months, Trump is set to nominate a new Fed chair and another governor, both with permanent votes on the 12-member rate-setting committee.
Trump has been critical of the Fed board — and Chairman Jerome Powell in particular — over the central bank’s refusal to slash interest rates and the controversial $2.5 billion revamp of the Federal Reserve’s downtown Washington, DC, headquarters.
Powell’s term as chairman expires in May 2026, and the Trump administration has openly been eyeing his replacement for the last several weeks.
Trump appointees Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller already sit on the board.
Adriana Couglar unexpectedly stepped down as a Fed board member three weeks ago to be replaced by Stephen Miran, an economic adviser to the president.
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