Trump renews effort to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook after Supreme Court setback

Renewed dismissal attempt

The White House sent a letter to Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook on Wednesday, informing her that President Donald Trump is "considering removing you from your position" over unproven mortgage fraud allegations. The letter, signed by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and made public on Friday, gives Cook until August 26 to respond. The move revives an effort that began last summer and was blocked by the Supreme Court in June.

Scavino wrote that there are "sufficient reasons to believe that you made false statements in one or more mortgage contracts." He added that even if Cook's conduct does not rise to a felony, it "appears to demonstrate a level of gross negligence in financial transactions that calls into question your competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator."

The allegations stem from a criminal referral made in August 2025 by Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, accusing Cook of declaring two properties, one in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and one in Atlanta, as her "primary residence" on mortgage applications. Homebuyers can obtain lower mortgage rates or smaller down payments on primary residences compared to second or vacation homes.

Supreme Court's June ruling

In June, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Cook could remain in her post, finding that the Fed occupies a special place in the U.S. government and that presidents can only remove Fed governors for cause. The court found that Trump's first attempt was plagued by procedural irregularities, including the absence of a signed termination letter and no opportunity for Cook to present her case.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a footnote that nothing forbids Trump from "trying again" to fire Cook, provided she is given proper notice and a chance to contest it. Trump indicated after the opinion that he would "take appropriate action immediately."

Cook's defense

Cook has denied the allegations, calling them a pretext for her removal over monetary policy differences. She said the president attempted to oust her "on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure and continued to set interest rates based only on what would best serve the American people."

Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, called the allegations "baseless" and said there is "no valid cause" for removing Cook.

“As we did before, we will challenge this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed.”

Lowell argued in a November letter that Cook has mostly lived in the Ann Arbor property since purchasing it in 2005, making it accurate to call it her "primary residence" in a June 2021 refinancing application. A month later, Cook purchased a condominium in Atlanta and referred to it as her "primary residence" in a July 2021 document, which Lowell described as an "isolated notation" that did not reflect intent to defraud.

Broader political context

Cook, nominated by President Joe Biden in 2022, is the first Black woman to serve as a Fed governor, with a term running until 2038. She sued Trump over the earlier removal attempt, and that lawsuit continues in lower courts. Trump has been critical of the Federal Reserve for not cutting interest rates aggressively enough and also threatened to fire Jerome Powell, then chairman of the Fed. Powell's term as chair expired in May, though he continues to serve on the board. The July jobs report, released the same day the letter was made public, showed a loss of 23,000 positions.