The Trump administration is moving ahead with its effort to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, two months after the Supreme Court allowed her to remain in her post while her lawsuit challenging the president’s attempt to remove her continues, according to the Associated Press.
The justices ruled 5-4 in June that Cook, who was nominated to the Fed’s Board of Governors by former President Joe Biden, could keep her job at least as long as her legal challenge to the firing remained ongoing, though the Trump administration is separately appealing the lower-court ruling that sided with Cook.
Lisa Cook Federal Reserve: What Did The Supreme Court Actually Leave Open For Trump?
Despite the setback, the court’s opinion left the administration room to try again through proper channels. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a footnote that nothing prevented Trump from attempting to fire Cook a second time, provided she was given proper notice and an opportunity to contest the move, a distinction Trump seized on immediately, vowing to “take appropriate action immediately.”
Lisa Cook Federal Reserve: What Notice Has The White House Now Sent Cook?
In a letter sent this week, the White House informed Cook that the president was “considering” removing her from the Federal Reserve Board and demanded she respond to the underlying allegations within three weeks, according to sources familiar with the letter cited by ABC News. White House Personnel Office Director Dan Scavino indicated in the letter that Trump was weighing whether to move forward with the firing, seeking a formal response to the claims that first prompted him to announce Cook’s termination in August 2025.
Lisa Cook Federal Reserve: What Are The Underlying Allegations Against Cook?
The dispute traces back to accusations first raised by a housing regulator more than a year ago. The Justice Department launched an investigation into Cook last year based on allegations from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte that she had falsified bank documents to secure favourable mortgage terms, with Ed Martin, the US Pardon Attorney and director of the department’s Weaponization Working Group, separately urging Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a letter to remove her from the board, writing, “I encourage you to remove Ms. Cook from your Board. Do it today before it is too late!” Both a federal district judge and the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit have already refused to allow Trump to carry out the firing on the basis of those allegations.
Lisa Cook Federal Reserve: Why Does This Fight Matter Beyond Cook Herself?
The renewed effort revives a legal battle widely seen as a test of the Federal Reserve’s independence from direct presidential control. Cook’s attorneys have consistently argued that no legitimate cause exists for her removal, with her legal team maintaining in earlier proceedings that, regardless of whatever Trump attempts next, established Supreme Court precedent leaves no valid basis for removing her from the board.
Cook has already participated in Federal Reserve interest-rate meetings during the course of the litigation, with the central bank cutting its benchmark rate at one such meeting held while the legal fight was under way.
With the White House’s three-week deadline for Cook’s response now running, both sides are expected to return to court in the coming weeks, in a case likely to further test how far a president can go in seeking to remove sitting Federal Reserve governors outside of the “for cause” standard long understood to protect the central bank’s independence.
