US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said that she will file a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration in a bid to prevent him from firing her, according to her lawyer Abbe Lowell.
Lowell said that Trump has “no authority” to fire Lisa Cook. “His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action,” AP quoted Lowell, a well-known lawyer who has represented several major political figures, as saying.
This comes after Trump fired Lisa Cook, the first African-American woman to serve as the Federal Reserve governor, on Monday over claims of mortgage borrowing impropriety. In a letter shared on Truth Social, Trump said that there was sufficient evidence that Cook had made false statements on mortgage applications.
Also read: US Fed Governor Lisa Cook is latest target for Bill Pulte, Trump's housing regulator
Following this, Cook said on Monday that she will not resign and questioned Trump’s authority to fire her. “President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so,” she said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}Following this, Cook said on Monday that she will not resign and questioned Trump’s authority to fire her. “President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so,” she said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}“I will not resign,” she added.
What Trump said
Donald Trump said in the letter addressed to Lisa Cook that there is sufficient reason to believe “you may have made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.”
Giving an example of such “false statements” as detailed in the criminal referral dated August 15, 2025, from William Pulte, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to US Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Trump wrote, “For example, as detailed in the Criminal Referral, you signed one document attesting that a property in Michigan would be your primary residence for the next year. Two weeks later, you signed another document for a property in Georgia stating that it would be your primary residence for the next year. It is inconceivable that you were not aware of your first commitment when making the second. It is impossible that you intended to honor both.”
He added that he does not have confidence in Cook’s integrity in light of her alleged “deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter”.
“At a minimum, the conduct at issue exhibits the sort of gross negligence in financial transactions that calls into question your competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator,” he wrote.
What did US Federal Reserve say
The US Federal Reserve is a traditionally independent institution and plays a crucial role in the US' economy. While it did not openly criticised Trump’s decision to fire Lisa Cook, the US Fed said that it would “abide by any court decision”.
Defending its independence from politics, which is critical for its functioning, the US Federal Reserve said, “Congress, through the Federal Reserve Act, directs that governors serve in long, fixed terms and may be removed by the president only ‘for cause’...Long tenures and removal protections for governors serve as a vital safeguard, ensuring that monetary policy decisions are based on data, economic analysis, and the long-term interests of the American people,” reported AP.
(With inputs from AP)