President Trump sent a letter to Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on August 5, 2026, giving her 21 days to respond to mortgage fraud allegations before a final decision on her future at the Fed is made. The deadline falls on August 26, 2026, and the stakes could hardly be higher: a dismissal would be the first time in American history a sitting Fed governor has been removed by a president.
Cook was first told she was being fired on August 25, 2025. Lower courts blocked that move with injunctions. Then the Supreme Court weighed in on June 29, 2026, voting 5-4 to let Cook keep her seat while litigation played out, citing the due process requirements embedded in the Federal Reserve Act. That ruling required the administration to give formal notification and a meaningful chance to respond before invoking the “for cause” removal standard. Trump’s August 5 letter is, in effect, the administration doing exactly what the court told it to do before pulling the trigger.
What the allegations actually say
The fraud allegations originate from a criminal referral filed in August 2025 by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte. Pulte alleged that Cook misrepresented two properties as primary residences on mortgage documents signed in 2021, a move that would have qualified her for more favorable loan terms.
