Trump Appeals Judge’s Decision to Keep Fed Governor Lisa Cook in Her Job
(Mark Schiefelbein/Evan Vucci/AP photos)
President Donald Trump’s legal team has filed an appeal of a judge’s ruling to keep Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook in her position after the commander in chief canned her last month.
Trump’s expected appeal landed on Wednesday, a day after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb granted Cook’s request for a preliminary injunction to block her ouster as she goes to war against the Trump administration in court.
“PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that defendant Donald J. Trump hereby appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from this court’s Memorandum and Order granting a preliminary injunction to Plaintiff Lisa D. Cook,” Trump’s appeal reads.
In her ruling Tuesday night, Cobb wrote that the “removal of a Federal Reserve Governor extends only to concerns about the Board member’s ability to effectively and faithfully execute their statutory duties, in light of events that have occurred while they are in office.”
The legal saga began last month when Trump announced in a Truth Social post that he was firing Cook in response to claims by Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte that she had committed mortgage fraud.
Pulte claimed that Cook used an Atlanta condo as her primary residence, two weeks after taking a loan on a Michigan home she also declared as her primary residence.
“You are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately,” Trump wrote in a letter accompanying the Truth Social post.
In response, Cook filed a lawsuit against Trump, alleging his actions are “unprecedented and illegal.”
Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors, has not been charged with any crimes, though Pulte has referred his findings to the Department of Justice. Trump’s moves to influence the Fed have raised alarm among economists and investors, like billionaire Ken Griffin, who warn the U.S. monetary system needs to be seen as independent from political pressure.
