President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to resign after a member of his administration accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud.
Bill Pulte, director of the agency that oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, urged the Justice Department to investigate Cook, who was appointed to the Fed’s governing board by former president Joe Biden in 2022. She was reappointed the following year to a term that lasts until 2038.
Pulte alleged that Cook has claimed two homes as her principal residences — one in Georgia, the other in Michigan — to fraudulently obtain better mortgage lending terms.
The allegation represents another front in the Trump administration’s attack on the Fed, which has yet to cut its key interest rate as Trump has demanded. If Cook were to step down, then the White House could nominate a replacement. And Trump has said he would only appoint people who would support lower rates.
The Federal Reserve declined to comment on the accusation.
Trump has for months demanded that the Federal Reserve reduce the short-term interest rate it controls, which currently stands at about 4.3%. Trump says that a lower rate would reduce the government’s borrowing costs on $37 trillion in debt and boost the housing market by reducing mortgage rates. Yet mortgage borrowing costs do not always follow the Fed’s rate decisions.
The Trump administration has made similar claims of mortgage fraud against Democrats that Trump has attacked, including California Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James.