Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook attends the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s 2025 Jackson Hole economic symposium, “Labour Markets in Transition: Demographics, Productivity, and Macroeconomic Policy” in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, U.S., August 23, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has sued the Trump administration in an effort to overturn the President’s attempt to fire her, launching an unprecedented legal battle that could significantly reshape the Fed’s longstanding political independence.
The lawsuit seeks an emergency injunction to block her firing and “confirm her status” as a member of the Fed’s governing board.
“The President’s effort to terminate a Senate-confirmed Federal Reserve Board member is a broadside attack on the century-old independence of the Federal Reserve System,” Cook’s lawyer, Abbe David Lowell, wrote in a court filing.
The case could become a turning point for the 112-year old Federal Reserve, which was designed by Congress to be insulated from day-to-day political influence. Economists prefer independent central banks because they can more easily take unpopular measures, such as lifting interest rates to combat inflation, than elected officials can.
The case was assigned to Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden. A hearing was scheduled for Friday (August 29, 2025).
The Supreme Court has signalled that the president can’t fire Fed officials over policy differences, but can do so “for cause,” typically meaning misconduct or neglect of duty. Ms. Cook has not been charged with any crime.
The lawsuit argues that the allegations don’t involve misconduct by Ms. Cook while in office and haven’t been proven. Ms. Cook should also have been given a chance to answer the charges, the suit says.
“The unsubstantiated and unproven allegation that Governor Cook potentially’ erred in filling out a mortgage form prior to her Senate confirmation — does not amount to cause,’” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also denies the charges against Ms. Cook, without providing supporting detail.
“Neither the type of offense’ the President cited nor the threadbare evidence against Governor Cook would constitute ’cause’ for removal even if the President’s allegations were true — which they are not,” the lawsuit said.
“The President determined there was cause to remove a governor who was credibly accused of lying in financial documents from a highly sensitive position overseeing financial institutions,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said. “The removal of a governor for cause improves the Federal Reserve Board’s accountability and credibility for both the markets and American people.”
The President’s decision comes as he has repeatedly attacked Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the other members of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee for not cutting the short-term interest rate they control more quickly. It currently stands at 4.3%, after Fed policymakers reduced it by a full percentage point late last year. Trump has said he thinks it should be as low as 1.3%, a level that no Fed official and few economists support.
The suit argues that the allegations of mortgage fraud are simply a pretext to fire Cook because she hasn’t voted to lower interest rates: “The mortgage allegations against her are pretextual, in order to effectuate her prompt removal and vacate a seat for President Trump to fill and forward his agenda to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve.”
“The President cannot rely on brute force or clever shortcuts to circumvent Congress to bend the institution to his will,” Lowell wrote in a request for an emergency order blocking the firing. “History provides no sanction for an attempt to short-circuit for cause’ removal protections by conjuring up unfounded allegations of past wrongdoing.
The lawsuit also seeks to block the Federal Reserve from accepting the firing and asks the court to require the Fed and Powell to “treat Governor Cook as a member of the Board of Governors.”
Mr. Powell signalled last week that the central bank was leaning toward cutting its rate at its next meeting Sept. 16-17. Still, it’s likely that the Fed will cut its key rate more slowly than Trump wants, and perhaps to as low as 3.25% or so — higher than Mr. Trump would prefer.
Ms. Cook is the first Black woman to serve as a Governor. She was a Marshall Scholar and received degrees from Oxford University and Spelman College, and prior to joining the board she taught at Michigan State University and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Published – August 29, 2025 10:55 am IST
