One Woman’s Refuse: the Ordeal of Lisa Cook
Photograph Source: Federal Reserve – Public Domain
The Supreme Court recently heard arguments that could reshape the global financial system. The case asks a deceptively simple question: Can the president fire Dr. Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, before the end of her term?
But everyone watching knows the real question: Can Trump also fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell — and, by doing so, end the Fed’s independence?
Dr. Cook, the first Black woman ever to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors, faced pressure to resign last year after the Trump administration claimed that she engaged in mortgage fraud. But no criminal charges were filed against her. No wrongdoing was proven.
Dr. Cook refused to step down. That refusal — and the lawsuit she filed to defend her position — now stands as the last legal barrier between the Trump administration and its stated goal of bending America’s central bank to........
