President Trump has sacked a Federal
Reserve governor as he steps up efforts
to exert greater control over the US
central bank. In a statement, Mr. Trump
said there was sufficient reason to
believe Lisa Cook had made false
statements on mortgage agreements. In a
defiant reply, Lisa Cook hit back
saying, "President Trump purported to
fire me for cause when no cause exists
under the law. He has no authority to do
so." Well, President Trump has long
urged the Fed to slash interest rates,
but this has largely been resisted. The
Federal Reserve, led by Jerome Powell,
is tasked with deciding monetary policy
and maintaining financial stability.
Donald Trump has launched regular
attacks on Mr. Powell and once described
him as a numb skull. Our North America
correspondent Peter Bose told us more
about the decision by President Trump.
>> It is unprecedented. Never before has a
president taken such action against a
member of the Federal Reserve uh one of
the governors. And of course, she has a
14year term. And these terms are
deliberately long to avoid any political
interference. They're renewed or they're
staggered in terms of their renewal
every two years. So they're they're
designed to live above politics. But
President Trump has uh as we've heard
posted on social media that he is firing
Lisa Cook. And in fact, we have just had
a reaction from Lisa Cook saying that as
far as she is concerned, the president
has no authority to sack. She doesn't
consider herself dismissed. In fact, she
says that she will continue doing her
job. In fact, she released a statement
through her lawyers with um the lawyers
chiming in as well saying that they will
take whatever action necessary to
reverse this illegal attempt by the
president to get rid of Lisa Ko. So this
is to be continued in terms of whether
she really has been dismissed, whether
she indeed has the authority to to to
continue in her job and potentially what
the president's next move This