Trump forms panel to investigate Lisa Cook, sets hearing for November 5

Key Facts

U.S. President Donald Trump established a panel to investigate allegations that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook made false statements about mortgages, under a presidential memorandum dated October 7, 2026. According to the memorandum published by the White House, the panel will submit a recommendation to the president on whether there is legal cause to remove her from the Board of Governors. The mandate places Cook's continued tenure within the panel's remit, alongside its investigation into the allegations concerning her statements. The panel comprises the assistant to the president for economic policy, the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the director of the Office of Government Ethics. These officials will take part in reviewing the case affecting Cook's membership in the U.S. central bank's leadership.

Cook denied committing mortgage fraud, CBS News reported, in response to the allegations under presidential investigation. She said she had "never committed mortgage fraud," maintaining her denial of the alleged wrongdoing. Her lawyers, for their part, challenged the legality of the hearing procedures proposed by the White House to examine the case. The network quoted them as saying: "We have serious doubts that this hearing is lawful." The defense's position thus addresses two aspects of the dispute: Cook's denial of fraud and the legal challenge to the proposed hearing. Under the procedures laid out in the presidential memorandum, the panel was required to disclose to Cook, before the hearing, the evidence it would consider.

The panel is being formed while Cook has temporary court protection from removal during litigation, without a final determination of the president's authority to remove her for cause. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in his opinion concurring with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling, said that "today's interim ruling does not resolve" that question. A final determination, in his view, depends heavily on the facts surrounding Cook's conduct that underpin the dispute over the legality of her removal. Kavanaugh wrote that "those facts have not yet been resolved," identifying an issue that remains pending in the case. The protection the ruling affords Cook remains tied to the ongoing litigation, while a determination of whether she can lawfully be removed remains contingent on consideration of the relevant facts.

The ruling affirmed that a decision to remove a Federal Reserve governor for cause is subject to judicial review, preserving the courts' role in examining the legality of the presidential decision. It linked restrictions on the president's authority to remove members of the Board of Governors to the goal of "preserving the independence of the Federal Reserve." Cook has served on the board since May 23, 2022, according to her official biography published by the U.S. central bank. Her current term runs through January 31, 2038, according to the same biography. The legal dispute concerns whether her membership can be terminated before the end of her term on the basis of legal cause for removal. The panel's recommendation requested by the president comes within this legal context, which brings together removal authority, judicial oversight and protection of the central bank's independence.

The presidential memorandum set November 5, 2026, for an in-person hearing at the White House to consider the evidence and allegations concerning Cook. It capped the hearing at 4 hours as part of the procedures for presenting the case to the panel tasked with the investigation. The hearing will be held out of public view, with the memorandum stipulating that it be "closed to the public." A transcript of the hearing will also be produced, according to the arrangements announced by the White House. The procedures scheduled for that date combine in-person attendance, a time limit on the hearing and documentation of the proceedings in a written transcript. During the hearing, the panel will consider the evidence it must disclose to Cook beforehand, before submitting its recommendation to the president on legal cause for removal.

The memorandum allows Cook to present her position in writing before the hearing, alongside the in-person process set for considering the allegations against her inside the White House. This procedure requires her submission to be received at least 3 days before the hearing, according to the presidential directive governing the panel's work. The requirement concerns the date the submission is received, ensuring that Cook's written position arrives before the hearing within the specified interval. The procedures also allow her to submit a written statement after the hearing, under a deadline separate from that for the pre-hearing submission. The announced procedural timetable thus extends from presenting her position before the hearing to allowing a subsequent statement on its proceedings. The White House set November 10, 2026, as the deadline for submitting that written statement after the hearing.