Cook, accused of mortgage fraud, says he will not be bullied by resignation by the president.
US President Donald Trump has said that if he does not quit as Governor Lisa Cook, he will step up his efforts to gain influence over the central bank.
“If she doesn’t resign, I’ll fire her,” Trump told reporters on a visit to Washington, D.C. on Friday. The museum focused on the White House.
Cook, the first black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve, said she “is not going to be bullied to step down” after Wednesday asked for resignation based on allegations about mortgages Trump has in Michigan and Georgia.
Cook said on Wednesday that she will take questions about her financial history seriously as a member of the Fed board and will gather accurate information and answer legitimate questions.
Asked about Friday’s issue as she attended the Fed’s annual research conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Cook said she had no further comment beyond her previous statement.
Cook is one of three Federal Reserve Governors appointed by former President Joe Biden, whose terms have been extended beyond Trump’s tenure, complicating the president’s efforts to gain more control by appointing a majority of his seven-member committee. Two of the Fed’s board members have been appointed Trump. Vice-chairman for Governor Christopher Waller and overseer Michelle Bowman.
Trump repeatedly criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who ended in May. Initially, they didn’t cut benchmark interest rates and more recently surpassed the cost overrun of renovations to the Federal Reserve building.
William Plute, director of the US Federal Housing Finance Agency, filed a complaint against Cook in a post on X on Wednesday, saying he designated a condominium in Atlanta, Georgia. Pulte told CNBC it is investigating the properties Cook holds in Massachusetts.
A loan in a major residence can carry easier terms than a loan in a second home or investment property. Pulte said the mid-2021 loan loan before Cook was appointed as the Fed in 2022 and confirmed with the Senate in 2022, Cook, a native of Georgia, was a professor of economics at Michigan State University at the time the mortgage was taken away.
Pulte asked us attorney general Pam Bondi to investigate, and Trump quickly amplified the allegations. The Justice Department is taking the issue very seriously, department officials told Reuters earlier this week.
Claim: “Cobbled together”
Maxine Waters, a top Democrat on the US Financial Services Commission, condemned Trump’s attack on Cook on Friday, saying in a statement it was a clear continuation of his ongoing efforts to “harmble the independence of the Federal Reserve,” and distracted the signs of the economic challenges raised by his policies.
“Their latest target is Dr. Lisa Cook, a high quality pioneering economist since Congress created it in 1913 and the first black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve board,” Waters said. “Let me be very clear. The allegations against Dr. Cook are curled up together as an excuse to replace her with someone who will first become loyal to Trump in place of the US Constitution or US law.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent is heading for an effort to find a replacement for Powell.
Trump is seeking early confirmation of the Senate of loyal Stephen Milan, the director of the Economic Advisors Council, who has appointed Adriana Kugler to a temporary seat on the Fed Committee. Coogler, the first Latina on the board, suddenly resigned this month a few months before her term ended on January 31st.
