Ongoing11 earlier updates29 days

This story has run 12 times over 29 days, starting Sep 11.

Sep 11August inflation holds at 3.4% annually; gasoline drives monthly increase
Sep 12Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August and 3.4% over the year, lifting September Fed rate hike odds above 80%
Sep 14Trump threatens trade cutoff with some nations unless Fed lowers rates despite 3.4% inflation
Sep 15Update10-year Treasury yield hit 5.014% Monday, Sept. 14, first time since October 2023
Sep 16Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark rate a quarter point on Wednesday, Sept. 16, its first hike in three years.
Sep 17UpdateFed raises its benchmark rate a quarter point to 3.75%-4%, its first increase since July 2023
Sep 22UpdateChicago Fed's Goolsbee says getting inflation to 2% will be 'painful' and require pushing employment below target
Sep 24Fed Governor Michael Barr says more rate increases are likely to counter inflation
Oct 1UpdateAugust PCE inflation was 3.4%, below the 3.7% forecast, cutting October Fed hike odds to 35% from 45%
Oct 4Markets pull back bets on October Fed and ECB rate hikes after weak US jobs data
Oct 8UpdateFed minutes show most officials expect another rate hike by year end
Oct 10Trump sets a closed White House hearing for Nov. 5 on whether he has cause to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook — this issue

Trump sets a closed White House hearing for Nov. 5 on whether he has cause to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook

Political Guyentist · October 10, 20263 min read

The three judges are his own appointees: economic adviser Kevin Hassett, the EEOC chair and the federal ethics director. The date is two days after the Tuesday, Nov. 3 midterms.

Trump created a "committee of inquiry" to examine mortgage-fraud allegations against Fed Governor Lisa Cook and to report whether there is "cause" to remove her from the Federal Reserve Board. It follows a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in June that let Cook keep her seat because she had not been given due process (notice and a fair chance to defend herself before being fired).

The hearing. It runs up to four hours at the White House on Thursday, Nov. 5, two days after the Tuesday, Nov. 3 midterms. It is closed to the public, and a transcript will be published afterward. Cook must file a written statement three days before.

Cook's side. Her lawyers, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, wrote that "we have grave doubts that this 'hearing' is a legitimate one," but said she may still appear.

What Cook's own paperwork in this case says about the Atlanta houseStandard loan forms listed both her Michigan and Atlanta homes as primary residences, per Reuters.3 details

Standard loan forms listed both her Michigan and Atlanta homes as primary residences, per Reuters.
An Atlanta loan estimate dated May 28, 2021 labeled the house a vacation home.
A December 2021 security-clearance form listed it as a second home.

What we’re less sure of5 of 8 claims

Medium
A 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in June let Cook keep her seat because she had not been given due process.
The June opinion (25A312) is cited, but CRS notes the holding came on the interim docket, and the story's 'due process' gloss and the 5-4 split are not independently confirmed in the cited summaries. Unattributed in the story.
Medium
Cook's loan forms listed both Michigan and Atlanta homes as primary residences; an Atlanta loan estimate dated May 28, 2021 called the house a vacation home; a December 2021 security-clearance form listed it as a second home.
The story attributes this to Reuters ('per Reuters'), a single exclusive via investing.com. Only the first bullet carries explicit attribution in the story.
Medium
Cook's lawyers call the primary-residence label an inadvertent error.
Attributed to Cook's lawyers and supported by Fox, but The Hill gives a reversed account of which designation was the mistake, so the sources conflict.
Low
No president had tried to remove a Fed governor in the Fed's 113-year history before Trump moved against Cook in 2025.
This is an unsourced sweeping negative. No comprehensive historical source is cited, and the story does not attribute it.
Medium
Warsh led September's rate increase despite Trump demanding cuts.
PBS supports Warsh leading the September increase. The contrast with Trump demanding cuts is the desk's framing, and the story does not attribute the claim.

Red take

Lisa Cook's own paperwork makes the case: standard loan forms listed both her Michigan and Atlanta homes as primary residences, while a May 28, 2021 loan estimate called the Atlanta house a vacation home. The panel now gives her the notice and chance to defend herself that the Supreme Court said she was denied. If it finds cause, she should go, or a Fed seat exempts its holder from rules every borrower signs.

Blue take

Kevin Hassett, Trump's economic adviser, and two more Trump appointees will judge Lisa Cook behind closed doors, then Trump decides himself: a firing with a transcript attached. Cook is charged with no crime, over a label her lawyers call an inadvertent error. No president in the Fed's 113-year history had tried to remove a governor before; if this works, every governor voting on rates learns her seat depends on pleasing the White House.