Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) signaled on Wednesday that he would oppose any effort to have the Senate consider a new nominee to replace Lisa Cook, whom President Trump fired from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors last month a few days after MAGA influencer-turned-Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte announced he had referred supposed allegations of mortgage fraud against Cook to the Justice Department. Cook is just one of three of Trump’s political (or, in Cook’s case, apolitical) enemies whom Pulte has claimed to have found evidence of “mortgage fraud” against in recent months.
Cook was appointed Fed governor by former President Joe Biden. Trump has been chomping at the bit to go after members of the independent board and replace them with allies who will meet his demands, including voting to lower interest rates.
After Trump moved to fire Cook last week, she filed a lawsuit challenging her ouster, arguing the office of the president doesn’t have the authority to remove her from the Fed board. While Tillis did not share his opinion on whether Trump had the authority to remove Cook as Fed governor, he said he did not want to move forward with trying to replace her until the legality of the matter had been litigated.
“I’m not going to consider anybody until that’s been adjudicated,” Tillis told reporters on the Hill Wednesday.
“I’m going to leave it to the courts to decide whether or not it’s legal,” he continued. “But if in fact it is to be for cause, it’s dubious whether or not — even if these events are as they’ve been described — [they’re] a basis for cause. If it’s a move to really kind of create a partisan divide in the Fed, then I’m against it on that basis.”
Tillis is a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee and his disinterest in moving forward any attempt by the Trump administration to advance a nominee to replace Cook is significant. Republicans need near-unanimous consensus in order to move nominees out of the committee with a 13-11 majority. Cook is currently still considered an active governor on the Fed board until the court make a decision, according to the New York Times.
Tillis is hardly sticking his neck out on a matter that is almost certain to make its way to the Supreme Court, as Trump claims that he fired Cook for cause. The “cause” being Pulte’s supposed evidence of supposed mortgage fraud, accusations that he has also lobbed at two other Trump foes: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Leticia James.
Tillis is not seeking reelection, a decision he made as he came out against the sweeping cuts to Medicaid included in the “big, beautiful” bill that passed both chambers and Trump signed into law this summer. Since then, he has gently broken with the Trump administration on a few different fronts, including when he said he would not vote for any Trump nominees who have said or done things in support of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
“I have no interest in moves that would make the Fed really come under direct control of the executive branch,” Tillis told Politico on Wednesday.
Trump Admin Courts Eric Adams
The New York Times, Politico and the New York Post all have stories out today reporting that the Trump administration has spoken to New York City Mayor Eric Adam