Lisa Cook has declared that she will not step down from the Federal Reserve, just hours after President Trump announced he was taking the extraordinary step of removing her from the central bank’s Board of Governors.
Earlier on Monday, Mr. Trump said the firing was effective immediately, citing allegations that Ms. Cook may have falsified records to secure favorable mortgage terms, despite the fact that she has neither been charged with any wrongdoing nor convicted of a crime.
In a statement released through her attorney Monday evening, Ms. Cook asserted that “no cause exists under the law” for her dismissal.
“I will not resign,” she said. “I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022.”
Her attorney, Abbe David Lowell, stated, “We will take whatever actions are necessary to prevent his attempted illegal action.”
Ms. Cook was originally appointed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to complete an unexpired term. She was reappointed in 2023, and her full term is scheduled to run through January 2038.
To remove Ms. Cook, President Trump cited a provision in the Fed’s founding statute that allows board members to be dismissed for cause. He defended the move—legally contentious and potentially threatening the central bank’s independence—by claiming that allegations of mortgage fraud called into question Ms. Cook’s ability to serve as an effective financial regulator.
Trump has long expressed his desire to reshape the Federal Reserve, frequently criticizing the institution and its members in an effort to influence lower borrowing costs. While his focus had previously been on Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell, attention recently shifted to Ms. Cook. Last week, Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, accused her of falsifying records to obtain more favorable mortgage terms and indicated that the matter had been referred to the Justice Department.
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