President Donald Trump has created a White House committee to hold a closed hearing on Nov. 5 on whether Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook should be removed from the central bank’s board over mortgage allegations, according to a memorandum posted Friday.
The hearing, capped at four hours, would come two days after the U.S. midterm elections and renews an effort that the Supreme Court limited earlier this year, Reuters reported on Oct. 9, 2026. Cook’s lawyers have said she denies wrongdoing.
The memorandum is dated Oct. 7 and was posted on the White House website on Oct. 9, Reuters reported. It sets up a committee to look into allegations that Cook made false statements on mortgage applications and to advise whether there is “cause” for her removal, the legal standard the Federal Reserve Act sets for firing a governor.
Trump said in the notice that it is his duty to fire subordinates “who cannot be trusted to tell the truth and follow the law,” Reuters reported.
The committee has three named members: Kevin Hassett, Trump’s chief economic policy adviser; Andrea Lucas, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; and Keith Sonderling, acting director of the Office of Government Ethics. Idaho Public Press, citing the memo, reported that the panel may consult personnel from other agencies, including the Justice Department.
Cook will be questioned in person at the White House. Reuters reported that committee members, their representatives or Justice Department personnel can question her for no longer than four hours. Idaho Public Press reported that she may also submit a written position statement, written evidence and witness statements.
Two later dates follow the hearing. A joint proposal from Trump’s and Cook’s lawyers is due Nov. 6 to Judge Kia Cobb in the federal district court handling Cook’s lawsuit, and Cook’s post-hearing statement is due Nov. 10. The committee would then make its recommendation “as soon as practicable,” Reuters reported.
Cook’s lawyers, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, said a fair hearing would show there is no legal basis to fire her, according to Reuters. They said Cook “welcomes the opportunity to present the facts so she can clear her name” and that they had engaged with the White House on the process.
NBC News, as relayed by Idaho Public Press, reported a more guarded statement from the same lawyers, who said they had “grave doubts” the hearing could be legitimate or comply with the law. The two accounts were not reconciled in the reports reviewed by Canada News Media.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, called the hearing a “kangaroo court,” Reuters reported. Krishna Guha, an analyst at Evercore ISI, said the inquiry “constitutes a re-upping of his threat to Fed independence” and would work against Trump’s goal of lower interest rates, according to Reuters.
Trump first tried to fire Cook in August 2025, citing mortgage questions. Reuters reported at the time that the mortgage documents for two properties she bought in 2021, in Georgia and Michigan, listed them as primary residences, and that she had not publicly explained the discrepancy. Cook said then that she would not resign and that no cause existed under the law. The mortgage allegations have not been proven in court.
Cook sued, and the Supreme Court ruled in June that she could stay in her post while her challenge proceeds, a decision that did not rule out another removal attempt, NBC News reported as relayed by Idaho Public Press. Reuters said the court held that a president cannot remove a Fed governor at will and must state a cause and give the governor a chance to defend herself.
Joe Biden appointed Cook to the board in 2022, and she was reappointed in 2023 to a term ending in 2038, Reuters reported. It said she has consistently voted with the majority of the Fed’s policy committee, which raised interest rates last month under Chair Kevin Warsh. Warsh was sworn in as Fed chair in May.
Trump has also alleged possible financial misconduct by Fed Governor Jerome Powell over building renovations, Reuters reported. It said a Justice Department criminal investigation of that allegation has closed and that an independent watchdog rejected it last month.
The Federal Reserve did not comment in the reports reviewed. The story is developing, and Canada News Media found no official Canadian government reaction.
Via Reuters, with additional reporting from Idaho Public Press, which cited NBC News. The Oct. 7 memorandum itself was not available to Canada News Media at publication.
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