White House forms committee to probe Fed Governor Lisa Cook
The move opens a new front in the administration's pressure on the Federal Reserve, separate from its earlier push for Chair Powell to resign
Published
The White House has formed a committee to investigate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
It comes just as Cook has been publicly reinforcing the Fed's data-dependent, inflation-wary stance through the recent market selloff.
Cook has faced scrutiny before. FHFA Director Bill Pulte referred mortgage fraud allegations against her to the Justice Department, accusing her of listing two properties as her primary residence on mortgage paperwork, according to CBS News. The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation over those allegations, issuing subpoenas and convening grand juries in Georgia and Michigan, according to ABC News. Cook's attorney, Abbe Lowell, has said the administration's efforts to remove her rest on what he called untried and unproven allegations of wrongdoing and lack legal basis, according to MS NOW. The Supreme Court ruled on June 29, 2026 that Cook could stay in her post while litigation over her removal continued, citing the Fed's requirement that governors be removed only for cause, with notice and a chance to respond, according to a Wikipedia summary of the case record. Her term runs through 2038, and she remains the first Black woman to serve on the Fed's board of governors, according to NBC News.
A formal probe into a sitting governor raises the stakes beyond rhetorical criticism, since it targets an individual board member's standing rather than the Fed's policy direction. Without details on the committee's scope or legal authority, the practical effect on the Fed's composition or on the path of interest rates remains unclear. The move fits a broader pattern of administration pressure on the Fed's personnel and independence this year rather than marking a new approach.