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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is not bowing out despite President Donald Trump penning a letter that announced that she had been “removed” from her post, effective immediately.” The standoff is unusual in its own right, but it’s also intensified a constitutional debate about presidential powers and how far the Fed is truly off-limits from politics.

The letter, posted on Truth Social by the president, is dated Friday, but was actually sent five days after Trump first demanded Cook’s resignation on the social media site. In it, Trump said he has the power to remove Cook based on Article II of the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which gives presidents the power to unseat members of the Fed’s Board “for cause.” The president said that he found “sufficient reason to believe” that Cook “made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.”

“I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office,” Trump wrote, asking Cook to turn in her security badge and other items.

The controversy over the loans came from Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to an agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In an interview with Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” Pulte said that Cook falsely listed two homes as primary residences: one in Ann Arbor and one in Atlanta, to obtain favorable mortgage terms in 2021.

“It’s very odd to see people try to twist back way sideways and upside down to justify mortgage fraud,” Pulte said. “This is a very serious crime. Mortgage fraud carries up to 30 years in prison. I believe the president has ample cause to fire Lisa Cook. Whether he wants to do that or not is entirely up to the president. However, we will go where mortgage fraud is. If mortgage fraud is with Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter – if you commit mortgage fraud in President Trump’s America, we’re going to come after you. And Lisa Cook is no exception to that.”

On August 15, Pulte submitted a criminal referral to the Justice Department, which accused Cook of making false statements to the bank and falsifying property records. The Justice Department has not issued any charges in the case.

Cook was appointed to the Fed’s Board of Governors in 2022 by President Joe Biden. She was the second Black woman to ever serve on the Fed’s Board. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Cook rejected Trump’s authority to fire her.

“President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022,” Cook said.

Cook has hired Abbe Lowell, a high-profile lawyer who has represented Hunter Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Lowell had no problem with the message Trump sent with the letter.

“President Trump has taken to social media to once again ‘fire by tweet,’ and once again his reflex to bully is flawed and his demands lack any proper process, basis, or legal authority. We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action,” Lowell said.

FOX Business reached out to the Federal Reserve, but an official could not be reached for comment.

In a follow-up statement, Lowell said that he would be filing a lawsuit on Cook’s behalf that would challenge Trump’s decision to fire the Fed Governor.

“President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action,” Lowell said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.Alll issued statements defending Cook. Raskin went to Axios and was blunter: “What an outrage and a scandal. This is the big one constitutionally.”

Warren called Trump’s action “an authoritarian power grab,” adding that “Trump is desperately looking for a scapegoat to cover for his own failure to lower costs for Americans, and firing Lisa Cook is his latest move.”

Jeffries agreed. “There is not a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong,” he said. “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. The American people are not buying your phony projection and slander of a distinguished public servant.”

Trump had for weeks been pressuring the Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, to ease the burden of servicing the national debt, which now exceeds $37 trillion, and to lower the cost of home mortgages. The attempt by Trump to fire Cook comes as he has continued to lash out at Powell for refusing to cut rates.