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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said she won’t resign after President Donald Trump, in a letter, said she had been “removed” from the job, effective immediately.” Trump posted the letter on Truth Social on Friday. He had demanded Cook’s resignation there five days earlier.

In the letter, Trump invoked the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which states that presidents can remove governors of the Fed’s Board “for cause.” He said he believed there was “sufficient reason” to conclude that Cook “made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.”

“I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office,” Trump wrote.

The accusations against Cook come from Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to an agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, about her personal finances. Pulte told Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” that Cook “listed two primary residences in 2021,” one in Ann Arbor and one in Atlanta.

“Made misrepresentations and in my view and on our facts, that to qualify for more favorable mortgage terms,” Pulte said. “It’s very odd to see people try to twist back way sideways and upside down to justify mortgage fraud.”

“The reason I say that is this is a very serious crime,” Pulte added. “Mortgage fraud carries up to 30-year prison sentences, and we have some very clear evidence that Lisa Cook had more than one primary residence when she was procuring mortgage loans from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac.”

On August 15, Pulte filed a criminal referral to the Justice Department, where Cook is accused of “making and causing to be made materially false statements to a bank and in the records of the bank.” Pulte’s referral has not yet led to charges.

Cook was Biden’s Fed appointee in 2022. She fired back against Trump’s removal notice quickly, saying the president does not have the authority to dismiss her. “President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022,” Cook said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Cook’s attorney is Abbe Lowell, a high-profile lawyer who has represented Hunter Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and the Kushner and Trump families. Lowell did not pull punches with his response to Trump’s letter.

“President Trump has taken to social media to once again ‘fire by tweet,” and once again, his reflex to bully is flawed, and his demands lack any proper process, basis, or legal authority. We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action,” Lowell said.

Lowell later released a statement saying he will be filing a lawsuit on behalf of Cook to formally challenge the firing attempt. “President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor 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,” he said.

House Democrats Defend Cook and Call Trump Action an Abuse of Power

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., joined with other leading Democrats in defending Cook and characterizing Trump’s move as an abuse of power. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., also released statements of their own.

Rep. Raskin, D-Md., said in a statement to Axios, “What an outrage and a scandal. This is the big one constitutionally.”

Warren described the attempted firing as “an authoritarian power grab,” adding that “Trump is desperately looking for a scapegoat to cover for his own failure to lower costs for Americans, and firing Lisa Cook is his latest move.”

Jeffries said, “This outrageous and unconstitutional move by President Trump has no basis in fact and has zero support among Democratic and Republican Members of Congress.”

Jeffries also said there was not “a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong.” He also accused Trump directly of the alleged mortgage fraud. “To the extent anyone is unfit to serve in a position of responsibility because of deceitful and potentially criminal conduct, it is the current occupant of the White House. The American people are not buying your phony projection and slander of a distinguished public servant.”

President Trump’s dispute with Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve has continued to fester over interest rates. Trump has called on the Fed to lower interest rates, which would ease the strain on debt service payments for the U.S. government, which currently stands at over $37 trillion.

The White House and the Federal Reserve tussling now could lead to a legal challenge, as Cook’s attorney Abbe Lowell said he would file a lawsuit on her behalf to test the balance of power between the president and the independent body.