Donald Trump has called on a Federal Reserve governor to immediately resign, renewing his extraordinary attack on the central bank’s independence as officials mull next steps on interest rates.
A close Trump ally accused Lisa Cook, an appointee of Joe Biden, of “potentially committing mortgage fraud” and urged the US Department of Justice to investigate. The claims have not been confirmed.
The US president has repeatedly broken with precedent in recent months to demand the Fed cut rates and urge its chair, Jerome Powell, to quit after disregarding such calls.
On Wednesday, Trump leaped on the allegations about Cook. The governor “must resign, now!!!”, he wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Cook and the Fed did not respond to requests for comment.
Cook, whose current term on the Fed’s board extends until 2038, previously served on the council of economic advisers under Barack Obama. When she took office in May 2022, she became the first Black woman to sit on the central bank’s board.
On Wednesday morning, Bill Pulte, head of the US Federal Housing Finance Agency, who has become – beyond the president himself – one of the Trump administration’s most vocal critics of Powell and the Fed, published allegations against Cook.
In June 2021, Cook entered into a 15-year mortgage agreement on a property in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and declared her intention to use it as her principal residence, according to Pulte. In July 2021, Cook bought a property in Atlanta, Georgia, and also committed to use that property as her primary residence when taking out a 30-year mortgage, according to Pulte.
Pulte referred Cook to the justice department for a criminal investigation, and promptly called on her to resign.
“How can this woman be in charge of interest rates if she is allegedly lying to help her own interest rates?” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Cook, who has not commented on the allegations, is the latest figure to be targeted by Trump officials over claims of mortgage fraud. Pulte has made similar allegations about the New York attorney general, Letitia James, and the California senator Adam Schiff, both Democrats. The justice department is reportedly investigating. James has dismissed the claims as “baseless”.
Schiff has vehemently denied the allegations, and accused the administration of weaponizing the US justice system.
As Trump and his officials continue to pressure the Fed to cut rates, minutes from the central bank’s latest meeting underlined how most policymakers plan to scrutinize data over the coming weeks to gauge the economic impact of the administration’s policies.
While Fed policymakers again opted to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged in July, two of its governors opposed the decision – the first time multiple governors have voted against the majority since 1993.
Fed officials “assessed that the effects of higher tariffs had become more apparent in the prices of some goods but that their overall effects on economic activity and inflation remained to be seen,” the minutes said. “They also noted that it would take time to have more clarity on the magnitude and persistence of higher tariffs’ effects on inflation.”
After the meeting, official employment data showed that jobs growth stalled this summer – prompting Trump to fire the federal government official in charge of labor statistics – as inflation continued to rise.
The two governors who called for rate cuts, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, were each appointed by Trump during his first term. Both have been floated as potential replacements for Powell, whose term as chair will end next May.
Powell is due to deliver a highly-anticipated speech at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming on Friday, which will be closely scrutinized for signs of where the Fed plans to take rates over the coming months.
