Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to purge her from the nation’s central bank as part of his plot to subvert the independence of the pivotal American institution.
On Monday night, Trump posted a letter he sent to Cook asserting that he had the authority to remove her “effective immediately.” Trump’s justification is an unproven allegation from Federal Housing Finance Agency Head William Pulte, a Trump appointee, claiming that Cook “made false statements” on mortgage agreements. Pulte has made similar allegations against Sen. Adam Schiff of California and New York Attorney General Letitia James, whom Trump sees as his political enemies.
“President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022,” Cook said in a statement.
Cook is the first woman of color to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, which plays a major role in determining American monetary policy. Cook was nominated to her position in 2022 by then-President Joe Biden and was confirmed in the Senate on a party-line vote by Democrats. Cook’s term is not slated to expire until 2038.
Not only is Trump trying to purge a prominent Black woman from her leadership position, but he is also attempting to subvert the independence of the Federal Reserve. If Cook is removed, the board would have a majority that was appointed by Trump when Chairman Jerome Powell’s term is set to expire in 2026. Trump has been trying to oust Powell.
Peter Conti-Brown, a business professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told The New York Times that if successful, Trump’s actions would spell “the end of central bank independence as we know it.”
“The president will run riot over the Federal Reserve by using the formidable resources of the U.S. government against our own central bank,” he added.
Experts say the use of mortgage filings as a political bludgeon by the Trump administration is further evidence that he is weaponizing the power of the federal government for partisan aims.
Adam Levitin, a financial regulation expert at Georgetown Law School, told The Washington Post that Pulte’s actions are an “extraordinary abuse of FHFA’s power.”
Pulitzer-Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said that the economic effect of Trump’s gambit would be devastating.
“The United States will be well on its way to becoming Turkey, where an authoritarian ruler imposed his crackpot economics on the central bank, sending inflation soaring to 80%,” he wrote on his Substack newsletter.
Trump is a racist pushing racist policy, with help from the racist underlings in his administration. He is also trying to assert dictatorial power within the United States. Cook has now joined millions of other Americans in resisting him.