Trump Announces White House Hearing to Investigate Fed’s Lisa Cook

… </p><p>https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/trump-announces-committee-to-investigate-fed-governor-lisa-cook-bcd509fa</p></div></div><div class="article-container css-oeufpf e1opctqs3"><div class="article-header css-cnekfb e1opctqs5"><div class="css-j6808u e1ofw1fq12"><div display="flex" class="eyrkrci0 css-1jwh7md-StyledBox e1vnmyci0"><nav class="breadcrumb css-q8t0wg-NavWrapper ed3psuc7" aria-label="Economy breadcrumb"><ol class="css-fhdvge-List ed3psuc3"><li class="css-1uhzxw8-ListItem ed3psuc2"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/economy?mod=breadcrumb" data-testid="breadcrumb-link" class="ed3psuc6 css-1hdhmjb-BreadcrumbLink"><span class="css-pqzzby"><span class="css-1xzc2un"><span class="css-fb9r2w">Economy</span></span></span></a><div class="ed3psuc4 css-19f58zn-StyledIconBlock"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" width="16" height="16" viewbox="0 0 16 16" overrides="[object Object]" class="css-1ww3cjk"><defs><circle 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id="cx-articlecover"></div><div class="crawler css-j6808u e1ofw1fq12"><div class="eiyqc161 css-1rqaeba"><div class="eh42cdm8 css-4nm965-AuthoringContainer"><div class="css-1th2wme"><div class="eh42cdm7 css-5h3nb1-AuthoringContent"><div class="css-159gcdb"><div class="css-11k10ko"><div data-testid="byline" class="epvx9354 css-nb8fez-BylineContainer"> <p class="epvx9352 css-1fmy8f5-AuthorPlaintext">By </p><a data-testid="author-link" href="https://www.wsj.com/news/author/matt-grossman" target="_self" aria-label="Author page for Matt Grossman" class="epvx9353 css-1y23mou-AuthorLink"><span class="css-17x5lw"><span class="css-1wc2zh5">Matt Grossman</span></span></a><p class="epvx9352 css-1fmy8f5-AuthorPlaintext"> and </p><a data-testid="author-link" href="https://www.wsj.com/news/author/brian-schwartz" target="_self" aria-label="Author page for Brian Schwartz" class="epvx9353 css-1y23mou-AuthorLink"><span class="css-17x5lw"><span class="css-1wc2zh5">Brian Schwartz</span></span></a></div></div></div><div class="css-11paagg"><div class="css-125u1fj"><div class="css-1o99qvy"><div class="css-nr8oy5"><p data-testid="timestamp-text" class="es486sg1 css-1r8enoi-TimeTag"><span>Updated </span><time datetime="2026-10-09T20:27:00.000Z">Oct. 9, 2026 4:27 pm</time><span> ET</span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="css-e1v6d5"><div class="css-13byt3y"><div aria-label="Utility Bar" role="toolbar" class="article-body-tools e716lcb0 css-to2tbw-MainStack" data-block="doNotPrint" data-testid="utility-bar"><div class="css-13byt3y"><div class="css-jbvua0"><button type="button" data-testid="share-button" aria-label="share" class="css-12mw4wi" tabindex="0"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24" fill="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 256 256" aria-hidden="true" overrides="[object Object]" class="css-1xtnhpp"><path d="m237.66 106.35-80-80A8 8 0 0 0 144 32v40.35c-25.94 2.22-54.59 14.92-78.16 34.91-28.38 24.08-46.05 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style="position:fixed;top:1px;left:1px;width:1px;height:0;padding:0;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;clip:rect(0, 0, 0, 0);white-space:nowrap;border-width:0;display:none"></div></div></div><section class="ef4qpkp0 css-18vr9e2-Container e1ofw1fq0"><div data-type="image" data-inset_type="" data-sub_type="" class="media-layout css-13plya0-Layout-baseCss ertdlv30" data-layout="inline"><figure class="css-x5rdl7-Figure ebruzsj0"><picture class="css-u314cv"><img alt="Fed governor Lisa Cook" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 979px) 620px, (max-width: 1299px) 540px, 700px" srcset="https://images.wsj.net/im-08058205?width=540&amp;size=1.501 540w, https://images.wsj.net/im-08058205?width=620&amp;size=1.501 620w, https://images.wsj.net/im-08058205?width=639&amp;size=1.501 639w, https://images.wsj.net/im-08058205?width=700&amp;size=1.501 700w, https://images.wsj.net/im-08058205?width=700&amp;size=1.501&amp;pixel_ratio=1.5 1050w, https://images.wsj.net/im-08058205?width=700&amp;size=1.501&amp;pixel_ratio=2 1400w, https://images.wsj.net/im-08058205?width=700&amp;size=1.501&amp;pixel_ratio=3 2100w" width="700" height="466" src="https://images.wsj.net/im-08058205?width=700&amp;height=466" class="css-1hzqsjo"></picture></figure><figcaption class="eihhvrm0 css-1n6fay2-FigcaptionItem e1ofw1fq21"><span class="e1m33gv80 css-426zcb-CaptionSpan e1m33gv81">Fed governor Lisa Cook</span> <span class="css-7jz429-Credit eq0esvu0">Nathan Howard/<wbr>Reuters</wbr></span></figcaption></div><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">The White House scheduled a closed-door hearing next month where Justice Department officials can question <a data-type="subject" href="https://www.wsj.com/topics/subject/federal-reserve" target="_blank" class="ekxajjj0 css-i0lbhy-OverridedLink">Federal Reserve</a> governor <a data-type="person" href="https://www.wsj.com/topics/person/lisa-cook" target="_blank" class="ekxajjj0 css-i0lbhy-OverridedLink">Lisa Cook</a> about mortgage-fraud allegations she has denied, as President Trump seeks to satisfy the Supreme Court’s conditions for firing her.  </p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">A presidential memo directed Cook to appear Nov. 5 at the White House to be “examined by” a committee of Trump appointees, including Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council. It marked the latest escalation in Trump’s battle to gain greater control over the Fed, and the first major salvo against the central bank since Chairman Kevin Warsh, his pick to lead it, took office in the spring. </p><div class="paywall css-1u1nl00-PaywalledContentContainer e1qcjy9n0"><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">The hearing would fall a day before Cook and the administration must give U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb a joint proposal on how Cook’s lawsuit challenging Trump’s first attempt to fire her should proceed. Cobb blocked that firing last year and allowed Cook to keep her seat while the lawsuit proceeded; the Supreme Court upheld her order in June. The case now returns to Cobb to decide the underlying dispute.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">If the White House committee recommends removal, Trump could again try to fire Cook and argue he had given her the opportunity to respond that the Supreme Court found lacking, leaving Cobb to decide whether the process was adequate. The White House hearing could also produce new material the administration might cite to justify her removal.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">The announcement is the latest move in the president’s long-running effort to exert greater influence over the Fed and could deliver the unusual spectacle of a central-bank official arriving at the White House for a disciplinary meeting.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">The hearing seems intended to demonstrate a deliberate procedural approach that the Supreme Court indicated was lacking in Trump’s initial attempt to fire Cook, said Kathryn Judge, a Columbia University law professor who has tracked Cook’s case.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">“Part of what the administration is trying to do is convince the public of the legitimacy of a process that may not be all that balanced or all that fair,” Judge said.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">While the hearing seems likely to clear the procedural bar that the Supreme Court laid out, it won’t resolve deeper questions about the grounds on which presidents are permitted to fire Fed officials, Judge said. Those questions will likely continue to animate litigation about Cook’s removal after the hearing, she said.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">The Trump memo lays out a step-by-step process that seems designed to respond to the high court’s ruling, mapping out logistical details such as when Cook may submit her own “position statement” and how long the hearing can last (“no longer than 4 hours”).</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">“Governor Cook shall appear at the hearing and be examined by the Committee, its representatives, and her legal counsel, if any,” said a presidential memorandum dated Oct. 7. “The Committee shall submit written findings of fact and conclusions of law to me and shall recommend whether there is cause to remove Governor Cook from her position.”</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">Besides Hassett, the White House committee will also include the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the director of the Office of Government Ethics. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas and the ethics office’s current acting director, Keith Sonderling, who also serves as labor secretary, were both appointed by Trump.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">The memo said that the hearing would be closed to the public but would be transcribed.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">In a statement, two lawyers for Cook, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, said that they have contacted the White House to “evaluate whether the process proposed has a possibility of being a genuine one and not simply a box checking exercise.”</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">“In light of the President’s repeated statements that he has already decided to fire Governor Cook—regardless of the facts and evidence—we have grave doubts that this ‘hearing’ is a legitimate one that would conform to the law,” the lawyers said. “But if it is anything close to objective, the conclusion will be that Governor Cook did not commit mortgage fraud, leaving no cause to remove her.”</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">The central bank is set up to operate independently from the White House, an arrangement seen by economists as essential for allowing it to set interest rates without political considerations. </p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">No president had ever before tried to fire a sitting Fed governor, a position nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The laws establishing the Fed say that top officials can be fired only “for cause,” a legal term whose application to Fed officials had never been directly tested.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">Cook was appointed to the Fed board by former President Joe Biden and is serving a term that runs until 2038.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">Last year, Trump adviser Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, produced documents that he said showed Cook had listed more than one property as her “primary residence” on mortgage paperwork. Trump then <a data-type="link" href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/fed-lisa-cook-trump-244c22c2?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" class="ekxajjj0 css-i0lbhy-OverridedLink">attempted to fire Cook</a> over the alleged misconduct, a decision he announced abruptly on social media, and Cook responded with a lawsuit.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">Through her lawyers, Cook has argued in court that the White House didn’t initially present her with evidence of misconduct or give her a chance to respond. She has argued that any inadvertent error in her mortgage paperwork wouldn’t rise to the level of misconduct that would warrant her firing.</p><p data-type="paragraph" data="[object Object]" class="css-1qg6i2u eiyqc160">Earlier this year, when the Supreme Court <a data-type="link" href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/supreme-court-blocks-trumps-fed-firing-but-allows-removals-at-other-agencies-350c8cf4?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" class="ekxajjj0 css-i0lbhy-OverridedLink">largely sided with Cook</a>, it found that she couldn’t be fired without some minimal procedural protections that would allow any evidence against her to be aired. The high court didn’t rule on whether Cook had committed mortgage fraud, or whether her mortgage paperwork was sufficient cause for her removal.</p><div class="ad-portal"><div class="uds-ad-container e1pa4qj41 css-1efw0bd-Container e1opctqs9" data-testid="ad-container"><div class="uds-ad-stack css-efqjdh"><p class="body-ad-label css-1hsjl1g" data-testid="ad-container-label">Advertisement</p><div data-testid="ad-block" class="e1pa4qj40 css-16bhsh0-Content"><div id="wrapper-wsj-body-AD_INLINEARTICLESHORT" class="adWrapper " style="width: 100%; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px;"><div> …