‘I Will Not Resign’: Federal Reserve Official Trump Is Attempting to Fire Says She’s Not Going Anywhere
AP Photos/Alex Brandon/Manuel Balce Ceneta
President Donald Trump announced that he is firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, but it is not clear that he has the authority to do so.
On Friday, Trump threatened to remove her if she did not resign.
In a letter to Cook dated Monday, Trump wrote that “you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately.” The president claimed that he was removing Cook “for cause.” The Trump administration alleges that Cook may have falsified records to receive more favorable terms on a mortgage. Cook, who is the first Black woman to serve on the Board of Governors, has not been charged with a crime.
“The American people must be able to have full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve,” Trump wrote. “In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter, they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.”
The president has feuded with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who has resisted Trump’s calls to lower interest rates. Although Trump has reportedly toyed with the idea of attempting to remove Powell, the president appears poised to take no action, as Powell’s term ends in May.
In a statement to The New York Times, Cook said she has no intention of going quietly.
“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,” the statement said. “I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022.”
Trump’s attempt to fire Cook may very well be on a collision course with a recent Supreme Court ruling from May. In that case, Trump v. Wilcox, the court ruled that the president could remove two members from their respective government boards, the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board. However, the court suggested that the president does not have the authority to remove Federal Reserve board members.
“The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States,” the court wrote.
