- calendar_today August 22, 2025
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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is not resigning, even as President Donald Trump issued a letter saying she had been “removed” from her role, effective immediately.” The unprecedented move has raised a constitutional question of executive power over an agency, the Federal Reserve, that has long been considered immune from political pressure.
Trump shared the letter on Truth Social directed at Cook, just five days after he first called for her to resign from her position on the same social media platform. In the letter, the president said he has the power under the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, to remove governors from the Board of the Federal Reserve “for cause,” and that he had “sufficient reason to believe” Cook “made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.”
“I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office,” Trump wrote in the letter.
The president added: “I hereby order you removed from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System effective immediately. You are hereby removed from your position as a Governor on the Board of the Federal Reserve System.”
The White House declined to offer further comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
Cook is accused by Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, of claiming two primary residences, one in Ann Arbor and the other in Atlanta, in 2021 to obtain better mortgage terms.
“The charges being levied against Lisa Cook, alluded to in the president’s letter to her, have been going on for a while now and have been characterized by a former colleague of hers who is a Trump appointee,” Cook said in the statement. “He made these allegations in a criminal referral to the Department of Justice and in interviews with the New York Times, Washington Post, and multiple right-wing outlets.
“There is no basis in fact or law for the President’s claim that he can fire me ‘for cause,’” Cook added. “In fact, the law is crystal clear that the Federal Reserve Governors can only be removed by the President for cause established by Federal law and the Federal Reserve Act. It is even clearer that this President does not have the legal authority to remove me from the Fed. The President’s demand that I resign is a clear abuse of power.”
Cook was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board in 2022 by then-President Joe Biden. Her refusal to step down was first reported by Politico.
Pulte, on a Tuesday interview on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” presented a binary analysis of the allegations.
“It’s very odd to see people try to twist back way sideways and upside down to justify mortgage fraud,” Pulte said. “This is a very serious crime. Mortgage fraud carries up to 30 years in prison. I believe the president has ample cause to fire Lisa Cook. Whether he wants to do that or not is entirely up to the president. However, we will go where mortgage fraud is. If mortgage fraud is with a Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter—if you commit mortgage fraud in President Trump’s America, we’re going to come after you. And Lisa Cook is no exception to that.”
On Aug. 15, Pulte, in a criminal referral to the Justice Department, accused Cook of falsifying bank documents and property records. A Justice Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that it does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations unless or until they result in an indictment. No such charges have been made.
Cook is being represented by Abbe Lowell, a high-profile attorney who has represented Hunter Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump in a prior litigation.
