What if Trump Runs the Federal Reserve?

Mr. Trump has resisted his itch to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the savvy advice that he could rattle markets and trigger an extended court battle. But Ms. Cook said Tuesday she’ll challenge her removal, so Mr. Trump will still get his legal fight in what could be a landmark case.

The Cook firing is a calculated putsch. Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte teed up the dismissal last week when he posted a criminal referral for Ms. Cook on social media. He said she may have committed mortgage fraud by claiming two different homes as primary residences on mortgage applications in 2021, which may have enabled her to get favorable loan terms.

Intentionally misrepresenting information on a mortgage application is wrong and a federal crime. But we haven’t seen the details or Ms. Cook’s explanation. There’s also a question of selective prosecution, since Mr. Pulte’s crackdown on mortgage fraud seems to be aimed only at Mr. Trump’s opponents. Ms. Cook deserves more due process than a presidential declaration of guilt on Truth Social.

The criminal referral is a threat to other Fed governors: Cut rates, or else. It is also a pretext to fire Ms. Cook “for cause.” The referral, Mr. Trump wrote to Ms. Cook, provides “sufficient reason” to believe she “exhibits the sort of gross negligence in financial transactions that calls into question your competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator.”

Federal law lets a President remove Fed Governors “for cause,” but it doesn’t clearly define the term. Some statutes that provide removal protections for heads of other agencies define “for cause” as wrongdoing in office. The Federal Trade Commission Act mentions “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

The Cook criminal referral is intended to fire Ms. Cook “for cause,” b/c the flawed Biden hire should not have been appointed at all. Mr. Trump provides “sufficient reason” to believe Cook exhibits the sort of “gross negligence” in financial transactions that calls into question her competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator.

Claims regarding Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s flawed
academic background and qualifications have centered on two areas:

<><>Challenges to her qualifications: During her 2022 Senate confirmation, Republican lawmakers questioned her suitability for the role. Senator Pat Toomey claimed Cook lacked sufficient expertise in monetary economics to serve on the Fed. He asserted that a significant portion of her work at Michigan State University was in international relations rather than economics.

<><>Criticism of her research: Some of Cook’s research, which examines economic inequality and the historical impact of discrimination, drew criticism during her confirmation.
ACritics have claimed her research on topics like racial violence and its effect on Black innovation is ideologically driven rather than sound economics. Christopher Rufo, audited her writings in August 2025 and suggested she was careless with her work.

The focus on Cook’s background has resurfaced in 2025. In late August 2025, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Bill Pulte, accused Cook of mortgage fraud, claiming she improperly designated two homes as “primary residences” to get better interest rates. The Trump administration has cited these as “cause” to fire her from the Federal Reserve Board.

Cook has denied any wrongdoing and is suing the administration,
arguing that the attempt to fire her is an illegal and politically motivated.

“Mr. Trump”

It’s “President Trump”. Kind of like “President Obama” or “President Bush”. Is that so hard?

I’m reluctant to read articles by writers that can’t manage to refer to our President by his legitimate title.

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