Trump forms committee to probe Fed governor Lisa Cook

President Donald Trump announced on 9 October 2026 that he is establishing a committee to investigate Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook over allegations she made false statements on mortgage documents. The announcement came in a presidential memorandum posted to the White House website, renewing Trump's effort to remove Cook from the central bank.theguardian.com

The three-member committee comprises Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council; Keith Sonderling, serving as Labor Secretary and acting director of the Office of Government Ethics; and Andrea Lucas, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The memorandum is addressed to Attorney General Todd Blanche, and the panel will consult with the Department of Justice.

Who sits on the committee

The committee will hold a four-hour, closed hearing at the White House on 5 November, two days after the midterm election. Cook may submit a written statement by 10 November and can appear at the hearing. The committee can question Cook about representations she or her lawyers make and request documents, which she must provide.mpamag.com

The allegations centre on two properties Cook financed in 2021, before her Senate confirmation. Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte alleged Cook took a $203,000, 15-year mortgage on an Ann Arbor, Michigan property and a separate $540,000, 30-year loan on a Georgia home within weeks of each other, declaring both as her primary residence. Cook has not been charged with a crime.

The mortgage allegations against Cook

Pulte's referral said Cook wrote in one document that a Michigan property would be her primary residence for the following year, but two weeks later signed a document attesting a Georgia property would be her primary residence for the next 12 months. Declaring a property as a primary residence can qualify a borrower for lower interest rates and reduced down payments.

Cook's attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, said their client would attend the hearing but questioned its legitimacy. "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 said. Cook "welcomes the opportunity to present the facts so she can clear her name."

Cook's legal team responds

Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, dismissed the panel as "an illegitimate show trial in his dangerous quest to illegally take over our nation's central bank." Cook's legal team has called the allegations "baseless" and characterised them as political interference with the central bank's rate-setting decisions.

Cook was appointed by Joe Biden in 2022 to a 14-year term after a 50-50 Senate confirmation vote that required then-Vice President Kamala Harris to break the tie. She became the Fed's first Black governor. Before joining the Fed, she taught at Harvard University and Stanford University and served on Barack Obama's council of economic advisers.

The committee must submit written findings to the president after the 5 November hearing, and Cook may file a post-hearing statement by 10 November. The hearing falls two days after the midterm elections, and the outcome will determine whether Trump can pursue removal of a governor the Supreme Court has already ruled he could not fire without due process.