Trump Forms Committee to Weigh Removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook

President Donald Trump has established a three-member "committee of inquiry" to investigate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations that she made false statements in mortgage applications and to report to him whether there is "cause" for her removal, according to a written memo. The committee is to hold a hearing at the White House on Nov. 5 at which Cook "shall" appear to answer questions, with a transcript published afterward, according to the memo. The panel is composed of Kevin Hassett, the president's top economic adviser; Keith Sonderling, acting director of the Office of Government Ethics; and Andrea Lucas, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the sources. PBS NewsHour and Mother Jones reported the announcement was made Friday; Al Jazeera English and the New York Post reported the notice was dated Wednesday and published by the White House on Friday.

In the memo, Trump wrote: "As President, it is my job to ensure the laws are faithfully executed, including by firing subordinates who cannot be trusted to tell the truth and follow the law." He added that the committee "shall investigate the allegations against Governor Cook and report to me whether there is 'cause' for Governor Cook's removal."

PBS NewsHour reported the Nov. 5 hearing would not be public but that a transcript would be released. The New York Post described it as an in-person hearing at the White House. Al Jazeera English reported the notice says Cook will be required to appear and answer questions.

Trump first attempted to remove Cook from the Fed's board of governors in August 2025, after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte accused her of misrepresenting two different properties on a 2021 mortgage application before she joined the central bank. The New York Post reported the exact date of the first attempt as Aug. 25, 2025. Cook denied wrongdoing, called the accusations "baseless" and sued to block her removal, according to the New York Post and PBS NewsHour.

Al Jazeera English reported a federal judge blocked her firing in September 2025 and that Cook remained in office while the case continued. In June, the Supreme Court declined to let Trump remove Cook while litigation continues, according to Al Jazeera; PBS NewsHour reported the ruling left Cook in her job and included a footnote stating nothing prevented Trump from "trying again" if she was given proper notice and an opportunity to respond. PBS NewsHour reported the Supreme Court said a for-cause firing required an alleged offense that was serious and related to an official's job.

Cook was appointed to the Fed board by former President Joe Biden, according to all four sources; Al Jazeera English and the New York Post placed the appointment in 2022, with the New York Post specifying May 2022, and PBS NewsHour reported she is the first Black woman on the Fed's board. Al Jazeera English reported her term runs until 2038.

Trump's effort represents the first time in the central bank's 113-year history that a president has sought to remove a Fed governor, according to PBS NewsHour, which added that the board has seven members and that Cook is one of 12 voting members of the rate-setting committee. Mother Jones described the effort as the first attempt in more than a century to fire a member of the Fed board.

The inquiry follows pressure by Trump on the central bank to cut interest rates. PBS NewsHour reported the Fed raised its key rate last month, led by Chairman Kevin Warsh, whom Trump appointed earlier this year, with a unanimous vote on Sept. 16. Al Jazeera English reported the Fed last month raised the benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.75–4 percent, the first hike in three years, and that CME FedWatch forecasts rates will likely remain unchanged at the final decision before the midterm elections. Al Jazeera English and the New York Post reported Warsh replaced Jerome Powell, whose term ended in May; the New York Post reported Trump previously criticized Powell for not lowering rates quickly, and that since Warsh took over the president has blamed what he called a "hostile" Fed board for raising rates.

Scott Alvarez, formerly chief counsel for the Fed, told PBS NewsHour that President William Howard Taft set up a similar commission in 1912 to remove two officials from an independent agency, and said the committee created by Trump goes beyond the process the Supreme Court said was needed. He added that the allegations against Cook do not appear to meet the "for cause" standard set out by the Supreme Court. Jaret Seiberg, managing director of TD Cowen's Washington Research Group, said in a note to clients that he did not see why the White House would start the process if it were not trying to create a way to justify removing Cook.

Mother Jones reported that additional loan documents indicated the alleged mortgage fraud was probably a clerical error, that no criminal case materialized, and that the Government Accountability Office is investigating whether Pulte misused his position to access mortgage data, with the FHFA's inspector general also reportedly looking into his conduct. PBS NewsHour reported Cook has not been charged with a crime and that her attorneys have said she committed an "inadvertent error" and referred to one of the properties as a vacation home in other documents. The New York Post reported independent analyses have questioned Pulte's accusations, and that Reuters reported Cook declared her Atlanta house as a "vacation home."

Where sources differ

• Announcement timing: PBS NewsHour and Mother Jones reported Trump announced the committee on Friday, while Al Jazeera English and the New York Post reported the White House announced it on Wednesday and published the notice on Friday (Al Jazeera) or shared the Wednesday-dated announcement on social media Friday (New York Post).
• Supreme Court decision detail: The New York Post reported the Court sided with Cook in a 5-4 decision, while PBS NewsHour and Al Jazeera English described the June ruling without a vote count, characterising it as leaving Cook in place and setting out a process and cause requirement for removal.
• Characterisation of the mortgage allegations: Mother Jones stated the claims were "shown to be incorrect" and were probably a clerical error, and reported formal scrutiny of Pulte; PBS NewsHour and the New York Post reported the allegations as unproven, with Cook denying wrongdoing, not charged, and independent analyses questioning the accusations.
• Rate-hike framing: PBS NewsHour attributed the recent increase to a rate-setting committee led by Chairman Kevin Warsh, while the New York Post reported Trump has blamed the Fed board for raising rates after previously criticizing Powell.

• No source reports any comment from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, whose accusations underlie the inquiry, or any response from him to the new committee.
• None of the sources reports a comment from committee members Kevin Hassett, Keith Sonderling or Andrea Lucas on their roles or the inquiry.
• It is not established whether Cook will attend the Nov. 5 hearing; her attorneys said they were considering it and engaging with the White House, according to PBS NewsHour.
• The sources do not establish whether the hearing will ultimately be public; only PBS NewsHour specifies it would not be public with a transcript published.
• No source establishes a definitive outcome of the committee process or a date for any decision on Cook's removal.
• The year of the June Supreme Court ruling is not consistently specified across the sources, and the earlier timeline references differ.
• The GAO investigation and FHFA inspector general scrutiny of Pulte are reported only by Mother Jones and are not corroborated by the other sources.
• No source reports whether the Fed or its board has taken any formal position beyond the Federal Reserve declining to comment.

1. PBS NewsHour — original — by Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press
2. Mother Jones — by Hannah Levintova
3. Al Jazeera English — by Al Jazeera Staff
4. New York Post — by Taylor Herzlich

Read the original at PBS NewsHour

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