WASHINGTON — The White House this week sent Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook a letter notifying her that President Trump is "considering removing" her from the central bank's board, reviving a mortgage-fraud case the Supreme Court refused to endorse in June and giving her three weeks to reply.

The letter is Trump's second attempt in a year to fire Cook, in what The Guardian has called an unprecedented attack on the Federal Reserve's independence. Cook was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2022 to a 14-year term ending in 2038 and is the first Black woman to serve as a Fed governor.

What the letter says

The letter, first reported by ABC News, accuses Cook of falling "well short of the standard" required of a sitting Fed governor and demands a written response within three weeks. According to The Associated Press, it "largely rehashes the year-old allegations" that Cook committed mortgage fraud by declaring two homes — one in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and one in Atlanta — as her "primary residence." Homebuyers can secure lower rates and smaller down payments on primary residences than on second homes.

The referral originated with Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who filed the criminal referral in August 2025. The Trump administration is separately appealing a lower-court ruling in Cook's favor.

The Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court blocked Trump's initial firing in June, ruling 5-4 that Cook was entitled to remain in her post while she fights the removal in court. The majority held that Trump had "failed to afford Cook the procedural protections to which she was entitled by statute" when he moved to remove her. Chief Justice John Roberts added a footnote saying nothing in the decision forbade the president from "trying again" so long as Cook received notice and a chance to contest the charges. Trump vowed at the time to "take appropriate action immediately."

Cook's account

Cook's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote in a November letter that Cook has mostly lived in the Ann Arbor property since buying it in 2005 and correctly described it as her primary residence in a June 2021 refinance application. A month later she bought a condominium in Atlanta and, in a July 2021 document, also referred to that unit as her "primary residence" — an "isolated notation" that Lowell said did not reflect an intent to defraud. A May 2021 mortgage application to the same lender had described the Atlanta condo as a "vacation home," and Cook called it a second home in federal filings during her Fed confirmation.

Lowell said the renewed allegations are "as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve," and vowed to fight the removal.

"No matter what President Trump tries to do next, this much is clear under the facts and Supreme Court precedent — there is no valid cause for removing Governor Cook. As we did before, we will challenge this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed," Lowell added.

The administration's silence

The White House did not immediately respond to a Guardian request for comment beyond the letter itself, and neither the AP nor the Guardian report published elaboration from the administration on Trump's latest push. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, a Trump appointee who has publicly favored rate cuts, told House Democrats at a July hearing, "We’re an independent central bank," and added, "We’re honored to be independent."

Cook's written response is due within three weeks of the letter's delivery. The Trump administration's appeal of the lower-court ruling that reinstated her remains pending.