Trump names White House panel to decide whether to fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook

President Donald Trump has named a three-person White House panel to weigh whether Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook should be removed over mortgage fraud claims she has long denied. The move revives his bid to push out the first Black woman ever to sit on the central bank's board.

A closed-door hearing in November

A presidential memo dated Oct. 7 orders Cook to appear at a private hearing at the White House on Nov. 5. The session is capped at four hours and a transcript will be kept, the Associated Press reported.

Cook may bring lawyers to the session. She can also offer evidence and written statements from witnesses while answering questions from the panel. She then has until Nov. 10 to file a closing statement in writing.

Who sits on the panel

The reviewers are Kevin Hassett, the president's top economic adviser; Andrea Lucas, who chairs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; and Keith Sonderling, the acting head of the Office of Government Ethics. Their job is to decide whether the accusations rise to the level of "cause" under federal law. After that they will advise Trump on whether to fire her.

How the fight started

The case traces back to August 2025. Bill Pulte, who runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency, alleged that Cook had claimed both a Michigan home and a Georgia home as her main residence on 2021 loan paperwork. That kind of claim can change the terms a borrower gets.

Cook says she did nothing wrong. Her legal team has called the Atlanta listing an honest slip that other documents contradict. No criminal charges have been filed against her.

Trump moved to fire her within weeks of the accusation. This June the Supreme Court let her keep her seat while the dispute plays out. The justices said federal law entitles her to notice and a chance to respond before any removal. They added that any decision must weigh how serious the alleged conduct is and how closely it relates to her work at the Fed.

The court did not rule on whether Cook broke any rules. It also left open whether the president can ultimately remove her.

Her lawyers push back

Cook's attorneys Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen have raised doubts that the White House review can be fair, pointing to Trump's repeated public vows to oust her. Still, they said she is glad for the chance to lay out her evidence and clear her name.

For many Black economists and civil rights advocates, the case has become a test of whether the Fed's independence holds when the first Black woman on its board is the one under fire.