Trump’s Firing Attempt Seen as Attack on Fed Independence

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President Donald Trump has said he “removed” Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook “effective immediately,” but she has no intention of resigning.

The unprecedented move, in which Trump posted a letter to Cook on Truth Social and the Fed governor refused to resign, was later condemned by congressional Democrats and sets up a legal showdown over the president’s authority and the power of the Federal Reserve.

The letter on Truth Social, dated Wednesday, followed Trump’s demand for Cook to resign on the same platform five days earlier. In the letter, Trump said, “As President of the United States, I have the authority under the United States Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 to remove any Governor of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Under that law, I may remove Governors of the Federal Reserve Board ‘for cause.’ After a thorough review of the facts and circumstances, I have determined that there is sufficient reason to believe that you have made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements and that such action is grounds for your immediate removal from office.”

The apparent effort to force Cook to resign from the Fed was reported earlier in the day by Axios, which broke the story of the charges after Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who first made the allegations, appeared on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” to discuss the allegations.

“This would make Lisa Cook the third female black professor in U.S. history to be fired by Donald Trump. Here’s the kicker: she hasn’t been fired. She’s not going to be fired. So why does Donald Trump do this? He does this because he has no one to blame but himself right now. The job approval is at 36 percent. Mortgage rates are at 5.5 percent. Gas prices continue to go through the roof, and energy prices in general. There’s only one person to blame,” commentator Maria Bartiromo said.

“We think that Lisa Cook has committed mortgage fraud. We will be in a few weeks filing a criminal referral with the Justice Department for what we think are bank document frauds as well as property record frauds,” Pulte said.

Specifically, Pulte alleged Cook claimed two primary residences in 2021 for different properties in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta, Georgia, which he said was an effort to “move markets” to get better interest rates on her mortgages.

“This is a very serious crime. Mortgage fraud carries 30-year prison sentences. I do think the president has more than ample cause to fire Lisa Cook,” Pulte added.

On August 15, Pulte filed a criminal referral to the Justice Department, laying out the allegations against Cook and what his agency had found. Cook has not been charged.

Cook, who was confirmed in 2022 as a member of the Federal Reserve Board by then-President Joe Biden, quickly pushed back on Trump’s claim that he had the authority to fire her. “President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022,” Cook said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Cook is being represented by Abbe Lowell, who has previously represented Hunter Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump, among many others. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Lowell went straight for Trump.

“President Trump has taken to social media to once again ‘fire by tweet,’ and once again his reflex to bully is flawed and his demands lack any proper process, basis, or legal authority. We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action,” Lowell said.

FOX Business reached out to the Federal Reserve for comment, but an official did not immediately respond.

Hours after the letter was posted, Lowell announced he was filing a lawsuit on Cook’s behalf to formally dispute Trump’s firing.

“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,” Lowell said in a statement.

Democrats Say Move is an Abuse of Power and ‘Bully-Boy Politics’

Prominent congressional Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., all rushed to Cook’s defense and condemned Trump’s actions.

The Democrats’ statements centered on the same core points that Cook was not charged and that Trump does not have the authority to remove her from her position on his say-so alone.

Warren called the move an “authoritarian power grab,” while Jeffries said the move against Cook was “absurd and without merit.”