US District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee on Friday morning held a hearing after fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook sued Trump.
Cook asked Judge Cobb to block Trump from firing her over allegations of mortgage fraud.
There was no immediate ruling from the judge after Friday’s hearing.
Embattled Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook filed a lawsuit against President Trump, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell after Trump fired her this week.
“Pursuant to my authority under Article II of the Constitution of the United States and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as amended, you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately,” President Trump wrote in a letter to Lisa Cook.
“I have determined that there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position,” Trump added as he cited housing regulator Bill Pulte’s criminal referral on Lisa Cook for mortgage fraud – specifically occupancy fraud.
Lisa Cook apparently owns three properties and she allegedly committed mortgage fraud on all three properties.
On Friday morning, Judge Cobb held an emergency hearing for more than two hours as attorneys for Lisa Cook and the DOJ argued over Cook’s firing.
Cook’s lawyer Abbe Lowell was in court on Friday morning and attacked President Trump for making his orders and policies by ‘tweets’ after he announced Cook’s firing on social media.
Judge Cobb cast doubt on Trump’s order firing Lisa Cook but she did not issue a ruling. Court will resume next Tuesday.
Judge Cobb is expressing concerns — and openly questioning – whether a President could mechanize these types of “complaints” and allegations of misconduct to stack boards with majorities
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) August 29, 2025
More from CBS News:
A federal judge on Friday heard arguments over a bid by Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to remain in her post despite President Trump’s efforts to remove her because of allegations she made false representations on mortgage agreements several years ago.
The two-hour-long hearing before U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb marked the first in-person showdown between Justice Department lawyers and Cook’s legal team in the wake of her lawsuit, filed Thursday, challenging Mr. Trump’s attempt to oust her from the Fed’s Board of Governors.
Cook’s lawyers have asked the district court to issue a temporary restraining order finding Mr. Trump’s purported termination of her to be unlawful and declaring that she remains a member of the Fed’s seven-member Board of Governors.
Cobb, appointed by former President Joe Biden, did not issue a decision from the bench. Instead, she noted that the case raises “important questions that may be of first impression” as it relates to the president’s firing of a Fed governor. She repeatedly pointed to the “unique functions” of the central bank and the importance “of this being an independent body that it is not supposed to be responsive to any type of political pressure.”
Read the full article here