President Donald Trump said Friday he would fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook if she does not resign, intensifying his administration\u2019s push to reshape the central bank. Speaking at The People\u2019s House museum, Trump criticized Cook, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, over alleged mortgage fraud and said, \u201cWhat she did was bad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo I\u2019ll fire her if she doesn\u2019t resign,\u201d Trump added, referencing a Justice Department investigation launched after a referral from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte. Pulte accused Cook of fraudulently listing two properties as her primary residence, prompting a federal inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Removing Cook could allow Trump to significantly alter the composition of the Federal Reserve Board. With seven total governor positions, Trump has already appointed two members, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, both of whom dissented on the Fed\u2019s recent decision to keep interest rates steady. A third seat opened earlier this summer when Adriana Kugler stepped down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Cook is ousted, Trump would likely nominate a successor aligned with his monetary policy views, potentially creating a conservative majority on the board. Fed governors serve 14-year terms, meaning Trump\u2019s influence could extend far beyond his presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cannot remove Cook, despite public pressure. Ed Martin, a Justice Department lawyer close to Trump, has also called for Cook\u2019s removal, but under current law, the Fed chair lacks that authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, defended Cook and criticized Trump\u2019s actions as politically motivated. \u201cHe\u2019s trying to find a scapegoat for his failure to lower costs for Americans,\u201d she wrote on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cook has voted consistently with Powell, including siding with the majority in the Federal Open Market Committee\u2019s latest decision to maintain interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The controversy adds another layer of tension between the White House and the central bank, raising concerns about the Fed\u2019s independence. Trump has long criticized the Fed\u2019s pace on rate cuts and now appears poised to use legal and political tools to exert further control over its board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pulte, a known critic of Powell and supporter of Trump\u2019s monetary stance, has aggressively attacked Cook online, amplifying the allegations against her. His involvement has fueled speculation about coordinated efforts to pressure the Fed into a more accommodative monetary stance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Justice Department investigation into Cook\u2019s alleged conduct is ongoing. If she is found in violation of federal law or ethics regulations, Trump may claim sufficient grounds to remove her \u201cfor cause,\u201d though such action could trigger legal and institutional challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cook faces scrutiny over mortgage allegations President Donald Trump said Friday he would fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook if she does not resign, intensifying his administration\u2019s push to reshape the central bank. Speaking at The People\u2019s House museum, Trump criticized Cook, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, over alleged mortgage fraud and said, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10772,"featured_media":12561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[2022,92,2442,289,2440,276,25,2439,122,2438],"class_list":{"0":"post-12560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-bill-pulte","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-elizabeth-warren","11":"tag-federal-reserve","12":"tag-federal-reserve-board","13":"tag-interest-rates","14":"tag-jerome-powell","15":"tag-lisa-cook","16":"tag-monetary-policy","17":"tag-mortgage-fraud"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12562,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12560\/revisions\/12562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}