Trump’s call to resignation on Lisa Cook escalates his attack on the independent Federal Reserve, which sets monetary policy, including interest rates.
President Trump is considering lawsuits against the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation project
President Donald Trump may sue the Federal Reserve with a $2.5 billion headquarters renovation project.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has called for the resignation of Biden-designated Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook following accusations from his administration that she was engaged in mortgage fraud.
A new focus on Cook, whose former President Joe Biden was appointed to the board in 2022, escalates the president’s attack on the independent Federal Reserve system controlled by a seven-member board of directors to set monetary policy.
“Cooks must resign, now!!!” Trump wrote in a post on the True Society on the morning of August 20th, shortly after US Federal Housing and Finance Director Bill Parte published a letter introducing the Justice Department’s prosecution for criminal prosecution to the Justice Department.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Pulte accused Cook of forged bank documents and real estate records to obtain more favorable loan terms. He said this could result in the secret secret situation of an Atlanta residence in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to secure lower interest rates.
Cook did not immediately respond to a USA Today request for comments on the allegations.
Cook, a former professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University, is the first black woman to sit on the Fed’s board. Cook previously served as a senior economist on former President Barack Obama’s White House Economic Advisors Council.
For months, Trump has opposed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates as Trump requested, calling him “Numbskull,” “silly man,” and “too late.” Powell cites inflation concerns from Trump’s robust tariff regime to stabilize interest rates.
Despite publicly weighing the idea of firing Powell, Trump has said instead he will wait for him to be replaced when the chairman’s term ends in 2026. Experts say the president can only remove the Fed’s chair.
Trump also sued Powell, and possibly Powell – debated the balloon budget for a $2.5 billion renovation of the agency’s Washington, DC headquarters.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates, is a 12-person panel consisting of seven governors of the Federal Reserve Committee and five Reserve Bank presidents. In July, two Republicans on the FOMC committee voted to lower interest rates, marking the two governors opposed the Fed’s decision since 1993.
To fill in the previous vacancy on the Fed’s governor’s committee, Trump nominated Stephen Milan, chair of the White House Economic Advisors Council. If confirmed by Sebate, Milan replaced Governor Adriana Kugler, who resigned on August 1st before his term expired.
Contribution: Bailey Schulz from USA Today
Reach Joey Garrison with X @joeygarrison.
