A federal district court judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the removal of Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.
Last month, Cook came under fire from President Donald Trump in a social media post alleging that she committed mortgage fraud. While Cook has not officially been charged with any crimes, he called for her to resign.
Cook in turn filed suit against Trump, arguing the White House has no authority to remove her from her role.
In Tuesday’s ruling, Judge Jia M. Cobb of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said Cook’s alleged actions did not meet the threshold for sufficient cause, in part because the matter under investigation took place before she began her tenure with the Fed
“According to the government, the determination of cause is committed to the president’s discretion by statute, leaving no role for this court. The court disagrees,” Cobb said in her ruling. She also noted Cook had been denied due process.
Justice Department lawyers had argued that Trump had expansive powers to determine what constitutes cause.
A distinguished economist, the Georgia native and Spelman College grad is the first Black woman to sit on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. She also held roles in the Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama administrations.
Appointed to the Fed by President Joe Biden in 2022, Cook has a permanent vote on the central bank’s rate-setting committee and has consistently voted alongside Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Her term runs through January 2038.
According to The New York Times, Cook’s suit called the president’s actions “unprecedented and illegal.” The suit, which also listed the Fed’s Board of Governors and Chair Jerome Powell as defendants, calls the president’s actions seeking her removal a political campaign to lower interest rates.
In a letter posted to his Truth Social account, Trump claimed he had “sufficient cause” to terminate Cook from the regulatory body.
Read More: Donald Trump’s Letter to Lisa Cook
Trump wrote: “Pursuant to my authority under Article II of the Constitution of the United States and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as amended, you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately.”
The Congressional Black Caucus came swiftly to Cook’s defense in a statement, which said in part:
“Let’s be clear: this is a racist, misogynistic, and unlawful attack on the integrity and independence of the Federal Reserve. It is a dangerous attempt to politicize and exert control over the central bank — one that will only continue to damage the economy, harm hardworking Americans, and undermine our credibility on the world stage.
“President Trump does not have the authority to remove Dr. Cook, and she has made clear that she does not intend to step down from the Board. The Congressional Black Caucus applauds Dr. Cook for her fortitude and looks forward to her continued service throughout the remainder of her term.”
Read More: Commissioner Risks Jail to Block MAGA Appointees to Election Board
LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of Black Voters Matter, shared similar sentiments. She argued that race is a vehicle through which Trump targets his perceived political enemies, who are often Black women.
“Trump believes that all he needs to do is create an air of suspicion — to try to poke holes in Cook’s qualifications — to feed the racist trope that somehow, by the nature of who she is, she’s done something illegal,” Brown told Capital B. “We saw him do that with [former Vice President] Kamala Harris. We’re seeing him do that with [New York Attorney General] Letitia James.”
Brown believes that Cook’s presence on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors is in the best interest of all Americans, she added, but Trump is “pushing the boundaries to see how much he can get away with.”
According to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, a president can only fire a Fed governor “for cause.” If successful, Cook’s removal from the Fed would potentially give Trump the outsize influence he’s been seeking at the bank.
Read More: Mass Registration Cancellation Puts Black Georgians’ Voting Rights at Risk
In 2019, Cook, then an associate professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University, published an op-ed in The New York Times with Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman entitled “It Was a Mistake for Me to Choose This Field,” exploring how economics has not been a “welcoming or supportive place” for Black women.
The piece quoted a survey from the American Economic Association that found Black women, compared to all other groups, had to take the most measures to avoid possible harassment, discrimination and unfair or disrespectful treatment.
“I would not recommend my own [Black] child to go into this field,” said one of the female respondents. “It was a mistake for me to choose this field. Had I known that it would be so toxic, I would not have.”
In a statement last month, the Fed wrote that they would abide by the court’s ruling on the matter. In the meantime, Cook remains an active governor.
This story has been updated.
Capital B staff writer Brandon Tensley contributed to this report.
