The White House Gave Lisa Cook Until Aug. 26 to Answer. Then Trump Can Try to Fire Her Again.

The White House has told Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook that President Trump is again considering removing her from the central bank's Board of Governors, according to a letter obtained by CBS News. The letter, dated Aug. 5 and signed by White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, gives Cook until Aug. 26 to respond to allegations that she made false statements on mortgage paperwork.

The move is a direct response to the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision on June 29, which blocked Trump's first attempt to fire Cook. The Court did not rule that the president lacked the power to remove her; it ruled that he had skipped a step. Cook, the justices held, was entitled under the law to notice of the accusations against her and an opportunity to respond before being removed. The Scavino letter is the administration's effort to build that record.

"Pursuant to the Supreme Court's opinion from June 29, 2026, you are hereby provided notice that the President is considering removing you from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve due to there being sufficient reason to believe that you made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements," Scavino wrote. He went further, arguing the alleged conduct "may be sufficient to demonstrate that you committed a crime," and that "there is a distinct nexus between a basic level of trustworthiness and care in financial matters and the duties of a Member of the Board of Governors."

The underlying allegations came from Bill Pulte, a senior housing official in the Trump administration, who sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department nearly a year ago. Pulte claimed Cook misrepresented facts on mortgage filings for two properties — one in Michigan, one in Georgia — before President Joe Biden nominated her to the Fed board in 2021. Cook has denied wrongdoing and has never been charged with a crime.

Her attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, said they would fight the new notice. "These 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," they said in a statement. "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." They vowed to "challenge this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed."

Cook has won at every level so far. After Trump moved to fire her last year, she sued and was reinstated by a federal district court, won again at the D.C. Circuit, and then held her seat at the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, warned that accepting the government's reading would "in effect transform the Federal Reserve's for-cause protection into at-will employment — an interpretive leap out of step with the statute Congress enacted and our Nation's tradition of central banking protected from political interference." Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined him.

Trump said after that ruling that his administration would "take appropriate action." The Aug. 26 deadline is that action. What happens after it — a formal removal, another emergency appeal, or both — will determine whether a sitting president can remove a Federal Reserve governor over conduct that predates her appointment and has produced no criminal charge. ABC News first reported that Trump was again weighing Cook's removal.