White House Defends Hearing for Fed Governor Lisa Cook as Attorney Seeks Delay
By Jacqueline Policastro | Quincy News Correspondent
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Washington (Quincy News) — The White House is defending a new inquiry into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, telling Quincy News it plans to give her a fair hearing even as her lawyer challenges the panel’s impartiality and says Cook cannot attend the scheduled Nov. 5 proceeding.
“President Trump is performing his constitutional duty in evaluating Lisa Cook’s conduct and eligibility to continue serving as a governor on the Federal Reserve,” White House spokesperson Matthew Middleton told Quincy News. “The President is going beyond what the Supreme Court required by offering Lisa Cook an in-person hearing that will be conducted in a fair and open process.”
In an Oct. 13 letter to the administration, Cook’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said she would be in Europe attending financial and monetary policy meetings as part of her Federal Reserve duties. He said the earliest a hearing could occur would be after the Fed’s Dec. 8-9 policy meeting.
Lowell also questioned whether the three-member committee could impartially assess the allegations. He raised concerns about previous public remarks by White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, a committee member, as well as unspecified additional allegations and the timetable for disclosing evidence.
The White House did not say in its response to Quincy whether the Nov. 5 hearing would be rescheduled.
What the White House is proposing
President Donald Trump established the committee in an Oct. 7 memorandum to investigate allegations that Cook made false statements on mortgage documents and recommend whether there is legal “cause” to remove her. The panel consists of Hassett, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas and acting Office of Government Ethics Director Keith Sonderling.
A White House official, speaking on background to Quincy News, said the committee includes specialists in Federal Reserve policy, employment law and government ethics. The official said Cook would receive the evidence against her before the hearing, could submit documents and written witness statements, and would be questioned by both the panel and her own attorney.
The memorandum calls for a hearing at the White House that would be closed to the public but transcribed, lasting no more than four hours. Cook would also be permitted to submit a post-hearing statement by Nov. 10 before the panel recommends whether Trump has grounds to dismiss her.
The allegations involve mortgage applications from 2021, before Cook joined the Fed. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte accused her of listing two properties as primary residences. Cook denies wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged. Her attorneys have called a discrepancy an inadvertent error and said other records identified one property as a vacation home.
What happens next
Trump first tried to remove Cook in August 2025. In June, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to keep her in office while her lawsuit continues, ruling that she had not received the notice and opportunity to respond required before removal.
But the justices also said courts can review a president’s claimed grounds for firing a Fed governor. Federal law allows removal only “for cause,” and the court said that standard depends in part on the seriousness of alleged misconduct and its connection to a governor’s duties. It did not decide whether the mortgage allegations meet that test.
A federal judge has directed both sides to propose next steps in the pending lawsuit by Nov. 6. Cook’s term runs through January 2038, and she votes on interest rates as one of the Fed’s seven governors.
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