President Trump has launched a probe into Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations, the White House announced Friday. The move appears aimed at removing Cook from the post following an unfavorable Supreme Court ruling on the matter earlier this year.
“As President, it is my job to ensure the laws are faithfully executed, including by firing subordinates who cannot be trusted to tell the truth and follow the law,” Trump wrote in Friday’s presidential memoranda.
The directive establishes a committee comprised of the president’s assistant for economic policy, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chair, and the director of the Office of Government Ethics that will investigate allegations that Cook, a Biden appointee, “made false statements in connection with one or more mortgage instruments.” The group will subsequently report to the president “whether there is ’cause’ for Governor Cook’s removal within the meaning” of federal law “as construed” in the Supreme Court’s Trump v. Cook (2026) decision.
Trump first sought to fire Cook over these allegations in August 2025, but was blocked by D.C. District Judge Jib Cobb, a Biden appointee. The administration ultimately filed an emergency application asking the Supreme Court to temporarily permit Cook’s removal while litigation over her firing continued. The high court rejected the government’s request in Trump v. Cook.
Writing for the 5-4 majority, Chief Justice John Roberts ruled there must be “cause” to fire Cook, and she must be afforded an “opportunity to respond to the charges made against her … [before] a final decision [can] be made.” The majority declined to rule on “the ultimate question” of whether Trump can remove Cook “for cause,” arguing such a decision “will depend in part on the underlying facts” that must first “be found or analyzed under the relevant legal standards.”
The court’s decision prompted stinging dissents from Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito (joined by Neil Gorsuch), and Amy Coney Barrett. Thomas noted “[a]pparent mortgage fraud was a ’cause’ to remove Cook” and underscored a point he raised during oral arguments — that “the statute authorizing the President to remove Cook for ’cause’ says nothing about notice or a hearing, so it does not require notice and a hearing.” The senior justice also argued the federal courts lack the authority to “enter the relief” the Cook majority upheld with its decision and further admonished the majority for infringing on the president’s executive removal powers.
Alito (and Gorsuch) argued that Trump showed a likelihood of success on the preliminary questions of whether “for cause” removal applies to pre-office conduct and whether he violated Cook’s due process rights. Meanwhile, Barrett blasted the majority for deciding significant legal matters that had not been fully briefed or contested, as well as the “disconnect between its holding and its disposition line.”
[READ: John Roberts: Presidents Have Executive Power. Also John Roberts: No, They Don’t]
Following the constraints established in Cook, Trump has directed the newly formed committee to “conduct an in-person hearing to consider the evidence and allegations against Governor Cook” on Nov. 5. The hearing will last “no longer than 4 hours,” according to the memoranda.
The directive also grants Cook the ability to file a written statement with the committee contesting the allegations, so long as it is submitted at least three days in advance. While the Biden appointee will be given the opportunity to “present argument, written evidence, and written witness statements regarding the evidence and allegations,” the committee will be afforded the chance to “question Governor Cook about any representations she or her counsel make during the hearing, or it may authorize its representatives, including Department of Justice personnel, to conduct that questioning.”
Cook and her team will be presented the evidence against her prior to the hearing. The committee may also request Cook turn over “documents or other evidentiary submissions … as appropriate,” which Cook is instructed to comply with. The hearing will not be broadcast to the public “but shall be transcribed,” according to the directive.
