.

President Donald Trump has fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook “effective immediately,” in a letter on Friday, but she has refused to resign.

Cook is rejecting the president’s attempt to remove her from her role. It’s an extraordinary confrontation that has raised fresh questions about Trump’s power as president and the independence of the central bank.

Cook, appointed to the Fed in 2022 by then-President Joe Biden, said in a statement: “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.”

In the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, Trump wrote, “I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office.”

Trump posted the letter to Truth Social on Friday after he first called for her resignation five days earlier on the platform.

He wrote in the letter to Cook, “As President, the United States Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 grant me the power to remove you from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for cause.”

Cook said in a statement she plans to challenge the firing in court.

“I have always acted with integrity, and I will continue to do so in all my official capacities,” Cook said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Friday. “President Trump is acting outside his authority and against the law. 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’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, blasted Trump on Friday: “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 was also quick to announce that a lawsuit would be filed on Cook’s behalf on Friday evening. “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,” he said.

Fox Business reached out to the Federal Reserve for comment, but was told by a spokesperson that they had nothing to say about this story.

Cook is accused by Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to an agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, of falsely claiming two primary residences, in Ann Arbor and Atlanta, in 2021 to secure a better mortgage deal.

On Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” Pulte said, “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 a Republican or a 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.”

Pulte filed a criminal referral with the Justice Department on Aug. 15 that alleged Cook falsified bank documents and property records. A criminal referral, however, is not an actual charge.

Cook, who is a professor at Michigan State University and a member of the Federal Reserve Board since 2022, on Friday also said in a statement that she disputes any allegations of wrongdoing in the referral letter.

Democrats Line Up Against Trump’s Action

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., have already spoken out against Trump’s actions, with Jeffries and Raskin quickly issuing statements.

Warren has called it “an authoritarian power grab,” and Raskin said in an interview with Axios: “What an outrage and a scandal. This is the big one constitutionally.”

Jeffries said in a statement: “There is not a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong. The president should not be sending messages that a public servant should resign for simply refusing to tolerate his lies or bow to his intimidation. He can claim whatever he wants on Twitter and at a political rally, but there is no truth to it. 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.”

The filing of the criminal referral and Trump’s announcement come after he has repeatedly made demands for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in order to lower the national debt, now sitting at more than $37 trillion.