Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook faces an August 26 deadline set by the Trump administration to respond to allegations that could be used to try to remove her from the central bank’s board, the latest round in a fight the Supreme Court already weighed in on once this year.
In a letter dated August 5, White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino told Cook that President Trump was “considering” removing her from the Board of Governors over allegations she made false statements on mortgage applications. The letter gave Cook until today to submit evidence or arguments to the Director of Presidential Personnel before any decision is made.
A Fight the Supreme Court Already Ruled On
This is Trump’s second attempt to remove Cook. He first tried to fire her in 2025 over the same mortgage allegations, but the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in June that the president could not remove a sitting Federal Reserve governor without proper legal justification, a decision widely read as protecting the central bank’s independence from direct presidential control.
Cook’s Response
Cook’s attorneys have called the renewed allegations “as baseless now as they were a year ago,” and argue the administration is trying to interfere with the Fed’s independence by relitigating claims that already failed once. Cook has not been criminally charged in connection with the mortgage allegations.
Why It Matters Beyond Cook
The Federal Reserve’s independence from short-term political pressure is a foundational assumption underpinning U.S. monetary policy and, by extension, global financial markets. A president successfully removing a sitting governor over disputed personal-conduct allegations, rather than for cause tied to her performance on the board, would be an unprecedented shift in how insulated the central bank actually is from the White House. Cook’s term on the board runs through 2038 absent removal.
