Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook filed suit against President Donald Trump on Thursday to challenge her unprecedented firing from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors.
Trump fired Cook on Monday, marking the first time a president has tried to fire a member of the politically independent central bank. In addition to Trump, the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell, are also listed as defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. Court for the District of Columbia.
Under the law, the president can only fire Fed officials “for cause.” When he moved to fire Cook, Trump cited a “criminal referral” from the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, who alleged Cook had committed mortgage fraud.