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Top Democratic leaders swiftly condemned President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, calling it an authoritarian overreach that threatens the independence of the U.S. central bank.
“Any attempt to fire Lisa Cook from her position of Governor at the Federal Reserve is just the latest in Donald Trump’s DC partisan games to rig the economy for his billionaire donors at the expense of hardworking Americans,” Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on X.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., turns to an aide during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“Donald Trump is playing a dangerous game of Jenga with a key pillar of our economy,” he wrote, adding that the attempted firing “shreds the independence of the Fed and puts every American’s savings and mortgage at risk.”
The top Senate Democrat called for this “brazen power grab” to be stopped by the courts, saying it could cause “permanent damage to national, state, and local economies.”
TRUMP REMOVES FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR LISA COOK FROM OFFICE, CITING FRAUD ALLEGATIONS
Trump accused Cook — who was appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2022 and is the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors — of mortgage fraud. Cook has denied any wrongdoing.
As it stands, Trump says Cook is fired, effective immediately. But Cook and her lawyer argue that he has no legal authority to remove her. Her term on the Fed Board runs until January 2038.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell swearing in Lisa D. Cook as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in May 2022. (U.S. Federal Reserve photo)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Trump was trying to remove Cook “without a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong.”
TRUMP CALLS FOR FED GOVERNOR’S RESIGNATION AS ALLY REQUESTS DOJ PROBE
“To the extent anyone is unfit to serve in a position of responsibility because of deceitful and potentially criminal conduct, it is the current occupant of the White House,” Jeffries said in a statement. “The American people are not buying your phony projection and slander of a distinguished public servant.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during his weekly press conference in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2025. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D., Mass., said Trump was using Cook as a “scapegoat” in a statement on X.
“[This is] an authoritarian power grab that blatantly violates the Federal Reserve Act,” she wrote.
Warren said that Trump’s move to fire Cook will be overturned by “any court that follows the law.”
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Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona warned that Trump’s actions could erode global confidence in the U.S., asking on X, “Why would anyone want to invest in the United States if our financial system is under siege by a political menace? This does not help America.”
“Some authoritarian sh–,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York called Trump’s “reckless firing” of Cook “clearly unlawful.”
“Trump undermining the Fed for political reasons endangers financial stability and every American’s livelihood, and must be challenged in court immediately.”
