Trump’s Battle With The Federal Reserve
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 10 September 2025
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Trump has been attempting to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook since Aug. 25. Cook was nominated by Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2022.
The administration is attempting to fire her based on allegations that she committed mortgage fraud before joining the Fed – that’s despite the fact that she hasn’t been convicted or charged with any crime.
On Tuesday night, a federal judge temporarily blocked the president from removing Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. She’ll continue to serve as she contests her dismissal.
The Fed has operated independently since its inception more than a century ago. How do the Trump administration’s proposed changes threaten that independence? And what effect could changes at the Fed have on the U.S. economy?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | support for NPR and the following message come from the Kauffman Foundation, providing access to |
| 0:05.8 | opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic |
| 0:10.7 | prosperity, regardless of race, gender, or geography.coffman.org |
| 0:15.4 | What's behind President Trump's ongoing battle with the Federal Reserve? |
| 0:28.4 | That's the question on some analysts' minds, as the White House proposes staff shake-ups |
| 0:32.8 | at the historically independent central bank. Trump has been attempting to fire Federal Reserve Governor |
| 0:38.3 | Lisa Cook since August 25th. Cook was nominated by Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2022. |
| 0:45.4 | The White House is attempting to remove her based on allegations that she committed mortgage fraud |
| 0:49.9 | before joining the Fed, that's even though she hasn't been convicted or charged with any crime. |
| 0:55.5 | On Tuesday night, a federal judge temporarily blocked the president from removing Lisa Cook |
| 0:59.9 | from the Federal Reserve's board of governors. She'll continue to serve as she contests her dismissal. |
| 1:05.4 | The Fed has operated independently since its inception more than a century ago. |
| 1:09.9 | How did the Trump administration's proposed changes |
| 1:12.4 | threaten that independence and what effect could changes |
| 1:15.3 | that the Fed have on the U.S. economy? |
| 1:17.5 | We get into it after a short break. |
| 1:19.6 | I'm Jen White. |
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