Trump sued by Fed Governor over removal, sparking independence fight

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook filed a lawsuit on Thursday claiming US President Donald Trump has no power to remove her from office, setting up a legal battle that could reset long-established norms for the US central bank’s independence.

Cook’s lawsuit said Trump violated a federal law allowing him to remove a Fed governor only “for cause” when the Republican president took the unprecedented step on August 25 of announcing he would fire her. Trump has accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud in 2021, a year before she joined the central bank’s governing body.

Cook also filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order declaring that Trump’s effort to fire her is unlawful and to bar the Fed from taking steps to remove her pending further litigation.

In the court filings, Cook said an unsubstantiated allegation about conduct that took place before she was confirmed to her position at the Fed does not amount to cause. She denied committing mortgage fraud, but said that even if she had, it would not justify her removal.

“The President would not have ‘cause’ to remove a Federal Reserve Governor even if he possessed smoking gun evidence that she jaywalked in college,” Cook’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also accused Trump of violating her right to due process under the US Constitution by firing her without notice or a hearing.