WASHINGTON — A White House panel investigating Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has postponed its hearing from Thursday to December 14, delaying the latest step in President Donald Trump's long-running effort to remove her from the central bank.
A special committee of inquiry appointed by Trump to investigate whether allegations of false statements in mortgage applications by Cook warrant her firing rescheduled the hearing, a White House official said Wednesday evening. The New York Times first reported the change. It was unclear whether Cook, whom Trump unsuccessfully tried to fire in August 2025, would agree to appear at the rescheduled hearing.
The official said the rescheduling came at Cook's request. Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said last month that questions about the committee's fairness and objectivity would have to be addressed before a hearing could occur. Lowell said the hearing could not take place until December, at the earliest, because Cook would be carrying out her official duties as governor at financial and monetary policy meetings in Europe, and she could not attend until after the Fed's December 8-9 policy meeting.
Trump established the committee in early October to investigate allegations that Cook made false statements related to one or more mortgage instruments. Its mandate is to investigate the allegations and report to the president whether there is "cause" for Cook's removal under a federal law cited in a Supreme Court ruling in June that temporarily blocked her firing. The committee is made up of Kevin Hassett, assistant to the president for economic policy, Andrea Lucas, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Office of Government Ethics Director Keith Sonderling.
Cook denies wrongdoing, and she remains listed as a governor on the Federal Reserve's official website. The new date does not remove her from the Fed or settle the allegations against her.
The postponement extends the uncertainty over Cook's seat and, by extension, over the central bank's independence from the White House. The hearing, now set for December 14, comes after the Fed's final policy meeting of the year, and the committee must review the evidence before the president decides what action, if any, to take.
