President Donald Trump’s continued focus on the immediate-future employment of Federal Reserve governors should be proof that the spirit of 2025 is still alive in the White House.

Trump is establishing a three-person “committee of inquiry” to investigate allegations of mortgage fraud by Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, the White House announced Friday.

The announcement comes roughly a week after the Fed Office of the Inspector General concluded that the central bank mismanaged a $2.5 billion renovation but did not violate criminal law. 

Days later, Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department doesn’t plan to reopen a criminal probe into former Fed Chair Jerome Powell over the same renovation.

The mortgage-fraud allegations against Cook date back to August 2025, when Trump attempted to fire her. Cook sued, and the case wound its way through a district court and appeals court before the Supreme Court in June ruled 5-4 that the Fed governor did not receive due process.

“At minimum, Cook was entitled to some explanation of the evidence at issue, some avenue for a response, and a deadline by which a response would be due,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in June. “Only after Cook has had the opportunity to respond to the charges made against her may a final decision be made. And only then can the courts assess the validity and sufficiency of such charges.”

The committee established Friday should be seen as Trump’s way of saying: “Bet.”

It wouldn’t be the first way Trump has tried to restate his case. The president sent a letter to Cook in August, indicating he was “considering removing” her, and giving her roughly three weeks to respond to the mortgage-fraud allegations.

The committee appears to take a page from an example Roberts cited in the June decision – in which President William Howard Taft in 1912 convened a “committee of inquiry” to determine whether he could fire members of the Board of United States General Appraisers.

“As President, it is my job to ensure the laws are faithfully executed, including by firing subordinates who cannot be trusted to tell the truth and follow the law,” Trump said in a memo dated Wednesday but made public Friday.

As part of the process, Cook must appear at a hearing Nov. 5 at the White House, where the committee will “consider the evidence and allegations” against her. Cook may submit a “written position statement” – as long as it’s received three days ahead of time – and may bring her lawyer. The hearing will be closed to the public, but a transcript will be made available.

In a statement, Cook’s attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, said they “have grave doubts that this ‘hearing’ is a legitimate one that would conform to the law.”

The three committee members, it should be noted, are all Trump nominees: Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council; Keith Sonderling, the Labor secretary and acting head of the Office of Government Ethics; and Andrea Lucas, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Hassett, in the wake of the OIG report exonerating Powell, said Oct. 4 that the former Fed chair should “move on and … respect the independence” of the central bank.

The comment came three days after Trump asserted in a Truth Social post that Powell should resign “IMMEDIATELY!”

A Fed spokesperson declined to comment on news of the Cook committee’s establishment.

Senate Democrats, however, expressed skepticism regarding the committee.

“President Trump is convening an illegitimate show trial in his dangerous quest to illegally take over our nation’s central bank,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, said in a statement Friday. “Instead of playing judge in a kangaroo court of his own making, Trump should end the war in Iran and cancel his chaotic tariffs.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, doubled down.

“This has nothing to do with ‘ethical concerns,’” Schumer wrote in an X post. “It’s about Trump trying to seize control of the Fed, something that would mean even more economic chaos for American families.

Lowell and Eisen noted, in their statement, that Trump has repeatedly said “he has already decided to fire Governor Cook – regardless of the facts and evidence.” 

“If [the hearing] is anything close to objective, the conclusion will be that Governor Cook did not commit mortgage fraud, leaving no cause to remove her from the Federal Reserve Board,” they said. “We have engaged with the White House to evaluate whether the process proposed has a possibility of being a genuine one and not simply a box checking exercise. Governor Cook welcomes the opportunity to present the facts so she can clear her name and demonstrate there is no legal basis to fire her.”

The timing of the hearing should be of interest for two reasons: First, it’s a day before the district court that heard Cook’s case is set to receive a report from the DOJ and Cook’s lawyers as to how they want to proceed with her original lawsuit.

Second, the Nov. 5 hearing is two days after the midterm election.

Conventional wisdom might say, if Trump Republicans were concerned that they may lose control of one or more houses of Congress, they would have scheduled the hearing – and passed judgment – ahead of the midterm.

As it stands, the committee will make its recommendation to Trump on whether he has cause to remove Cook "as soon as practicable" after Nov. 10, the day by which Cook can submit a post-hearing statement, according to the ⁠memo.

That the hearing and subsequent recommendations are set for after the 2026 election may indicate no lack of confidence from Trump-brand Republicans in their midterm prospects.

Two other personnel developments should be noted: If the committee decides Trump should be allowed to fire Cook – a result that would be disputed in any circumstance – who would be sitting on the panel but Hassett, the highest-profile Washingtonian passed up for the job as Fed chair?

The second move, announced Friday hours after the committee memo came to light, is the Treasury Department’s hiring of economist Judy Shelton – a 2019 Trump nominee for a Fed board seat.

The Trumpian bet may be that the committee can find a way to dismiss Cook and still have enough Senate votes to replace her with one of those two figures.