Trump creates committee of inquiry to weigh firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook

President Donald Trump on Friday established what he calls a "committee of inquiry" to investigate allegations that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook made false statements related to "one or more mortgage instruments," the White House announced, according to CNBC. The presidential memorandum is dated Wednesday. Its three members are all Trump appointees: Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council; Keith Sonderling, Labor secretary and acting head of the Office of Government Ethics; and Andrea Lucas, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. CNBC reported that no outside, independent arbiters are mentioned in the notice.

According to the memo, Cook is expected to attend an in-person hearing at the White House on 5 November, two days after the midterm election. She can bring an attorney and has until 10 November to follow up after the proceedings. The committee will weigh the evidence against her and her response, then recommend to the president whether there is cause to fire her. The final call is up to the president, and there is no set deadline for that decision.

Cook's attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, said in a statement that she "welcomes the opportunity to present the facts so she can clear her name and demonstrate there is no legal basis to fire her." They also said, "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." They have said repeatedly that Cook did not commit mortgage fraud.

CNBC reported that congressional Democrats quickly criticized the announcement. The outlet said there is no modern precedent for such a committee, though past presidents convened similar panels, including Herbert Hoover in 1931. Trump, who frequently urges the Fed to lower interest rates, said the failure to do so by his handpicked chair, Kevin Warsh, is the fault of a "hostile" board, according to CNBC.

Trump first tried to fire Cook in 2025, after administration officials raised allegations that she made false statements on at least one mortgage-related document. The Supreme Court blocked that effort on procedural grounds in June but said he could try again, citing a 1912 committee convened by President William Howard Taft to consider the removal of two members of the Board of General Appraisers. Trump informed Cook in August that he was considering another attempt to fire her; her attorneys responded later that month, denying the fraud allegations and saying Trump had no cause to remove her.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion in Trump v. Cook that Cook was entitled to notice of the president's decision, an explanation of the evidence and an opportunity to present her defense, and that the process could take place entirely in writing. Roberts wrote that a Fed governor is not "entitled to an audience with the President or a full-blown judicial trial." CNBC reported that the committee members are executive branch appointees who report to the president, not impartial members of the judicial branch, and that the Supreme Court did not make a detailed determination of what constitutes cause.