President Donald Trump has renewed his effort to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, two months after the Supreme Court blocked his initial attempt to fire her. In a letter dated August 5 and received by Cook on Friday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino notified Cook that Trump was “considering” removing her and gave her 21 days to respond to allegations that she committed mortgage fraud in 2021 by listing two different homes—a condo in Georgia and a house in Michigan—as her primary residence on mortgage applications.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on June 29 in Trump v. Cook that Cook is entitled to notice and an opportunity to respond before any removal decision is made. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, stated that a president is not required to give a governor “an audience with the President or a full-blown judicial trial,” but must provide “the right to support allegations by argument however brief, and, if need be, by proof, however informal,” before a final decision.
Scavino’s letter cited a criminal referral from William Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as the basis for Trump’s consideration. Cook’s legal team, including attorneys Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, rejected the allegations as “baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook to interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve.” They vowed to “challenge this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed.”
Financial records have undermined the Trump administration’s claims. Reuters reported that other documents Cook signed in connection with her Atlanta property mortgage described it as a vacation home, not as a primary residence, contradicting the fraud allegations. Cook was nominated to the Federal Reserve in January 2022 by then-President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate on May 10, 2022, by a 51-50 vote, making her the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
The Supreme Court’s June ruling established a stringent standard for removal. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the threshold for establishing cause must be “substantial” and depend “on the seriousness of the alleged misconduct, and the extent of any nexus that may exist to the Governor’s professional duties.” The Court emphasized a second prong: whether the alleged cause “truly implies an unfitness for the place—or whether it simply represents an effort to secure a more congenial replacement.”
According to Brookings Institution researcher Daniel K. Tarullo, the ruling preserves Federal Reserve independence by carving out an exception from the broader expansion of presidential removal power announced the same day. “Trump v. Cook does not foreclose a successful future effort by a president to remove a Fed Governor for cause,” Tarullo noted, but the Court’s interpretation makes the case against Cook “a difficult one to win unless important new facts emerge.”
Cook’s term does not expire until 2038. The Federal Reserve Act permits removal only “for cause,” and Cook serves a staggered 14-year term designed to insulate the Fed from political pressure. The Trump administration’s renewed effort signals a continuation of the broader conflict over presidential control of independent agencies, though the Supreme Court has drawn a line specifically protecting the Federal Reserve from at-will removal.
Sources
- SCOTUSblog — Trump’s August 5 letter renewing removal effort, Cook’s legal response, and the Supreme Court’s June 29 ruling in Trump v. Cook
- Brookings Institution — Analysis of the Supreme Court’s for-cause removal standard and its implications for Fed independence
- Reuters — Financial documents showing Cook’s Atlanta property was described as a vacation home
- New York Times — Reporting on financial records undermining mortgage fraud allegations
- Federal Reserve — Cook’s confirmation date and biographical details
- U.S. Senate Banking Committee — Cook’s 51-50 confirmation vote on May 10, 2022
