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Lisa Cook (Govt. photo)
Updated: 12:30 p.m. Tuesday: CNN reports that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s attorney Abbe Lowell said today he's is filing a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her.
“President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action,” he said in a statement sent to CNN.
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Report From Late Monday Night
President Donald Trump said Monday he is removing Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa DeNell Cook, who taught economics and international relations at Michigan State University from 2005 until 2022, when she was appointed to the board by President Joe Biden.
She is currently still a professor at MSU, but is on leave. In 2023, she was reappointed to the board for a 14-year term.
In a letter to Cook posted on Truth Social, Trump wrote, "You are hereby removed from your position... effective immediately." He added that "you may have made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements."
On Friday, Trump said he would fire Cook if she did not resign. The Wall Street Journal reported that it is not clear whether Trump legally has the power to fire Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the board. Presidents can remove a board member for cause.
Cook has consistently voted with Fed Chair Jerome Powell on keeping interest rates steady, a point of contention for Trump who has been pushing to lower them since taking office in January.
The Wall Street Journal writes:
Trump’s decision comes days after Bill Pulte, the leader of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, alleged that in 2021 Cook sought mortgages on two properties—one in Michigan, the other in Atlanta—and described both of them as her primary residence in papers submitted 14 days apart. Pulte said he would submit the information to the Justice Department in a criminal referral.
Cook said last week that she learned from the media that Pulte was making a criminal referral based on the mortgage application. “I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” she said, adding that she would take questions about her financial history seriously.
