Judge Stops Trump From Firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook

The central bank governor took U.S. President Donald Trump to court last month after he tried to fire her for allegedly committing mortgage fraud.

Court Blocks Trump’s Attempt to Oust Fed Governor Cook

Judge Jia Cobb on Tuesday approved Fed Governor Lisa Cook’s request for a temporary restraining order against U.S. President Donald Trump, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, and the Fed itself, after the president issued an August 25 letter firing Cook on allegations of mortgage fraud, according to a public court filing. Fortune Magazine claims Cobb and Cook are both members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Cobb’s decision is the latest installment in a saga that began when Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, submitted a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing Cook of lying about her primary residence on a 2021 mortgage application in order to get a lower borrowing rate. Reporting by Propublica claims that at least three Trump cabinet members have also claimed multiple primary residences on previous mortgage applications.

(Reporting by Propublica alleges that at least three members of the Trump administration have also listed more than one primary residence on previous mortgage applications, an accusation that has also been leveled against Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and that the president says she should be fired for. / Propublica) When Trump caught wind of Cook’s purported scandal, he demanded her immediate resignation before promptly firing her on August 25. The president has legal authority to fire Fed governors but only “for cause,” a standard that Cobb says Trump has so far failed to demonstrate, although most experts agree that the lawsuit will eventually be settled by the Supreme Court.

“The best reading of the ‘for cause’ provision is that the bases for removal of a member of the Board of Governors are limited to grounds concerning a Governor’s behavior in office and whether they have been faithfully and effectively executing their statutory duties,” Cobb wrote in her opinion memorandum. “‘For cause’ thus does not contemplate removing an individual purely for conduct that occurred before they began in office,” she added.

Cook included Powell and the Board in her suit in case they felt pressured to carry out Trump’s request to oust her. The president has long demanded that the Board cut rates to spur the U.S. economy, but Powell, who has been the primary victim of Trump’s verbal tirades against the Fed, has thus far argued against a rate cut, pointing out that inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target.

The Board reconvenes next Tuesday for its scheduled two-day interest rate meeting and most experts agree that given the recent shift in the macroeconomic environment, a rate cut is all but guaranteed. Cook will take part in Tuesday’s closed-door meeting, adding a wildcard to the seven-member Board’s final decision.