Who is Lisa Cook? The Fed governor at the center of Trump’s legal battle

The rise of Lisa Cook Federal Reserve It was historic from the beginning.

Appointed by former President joe Biden In 2022, she became the first Black woman to serve as chief executive of the Fed, the seven-member board that sets national interest rates and oversees the banking system.

Now, as President, he stands at the center of another historic moment. Donald Trump attempted to drive him out; It’s a move the Federal Reserve has never seen in its 112-year history.

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Cook’s legal battle dates back to late August, when Trump said he would fire him from the Federal Reserve Board.

He claimed he misrepresented information regarding three mortgages he took out before joining the central bank. Cook denied any wrongdoing and was not charged with any crime.

HE He filed a lawsuit against Trump in federal court in Washington, D.C., to block his removal from office. On September 9, a district court judge barred Trump from firing him while the case was pending; This decision was later confirmed by the federal appeals court.

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is seen swearing at Lisa Cook as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in May 2022. (US Federal Reserve Photo)

The Oxford graduate and UC Berkeley-educated economist had a career in academia before joining the Fed board, including faculty roles at Harvard University and Michigan State University.

A graduate of Spelman College, Cook has been described by American economist Barry Eichengreen as “part economist and historian”; He is fluent in several languages, including French, Russian, Spanish, and Wolof, a language widely spoken in Senegal.

Cook has also held senior government positions and served as a senior economist on then-President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 to 2012.

Prior to that, he served as senior advisor on finance and development in the Treasury Department’s Office of International Affairs.

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks with Lisa Cook at the Federal Reserve meeting in Washington, DC, on June 25, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP/GettyImages)

He joined the Fed board in May 2022 and was reappointed in September 2023 for a term that runs through January 2038; That mandate is currently under review as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments Wednesday.

The court is expected to make a decision by this summer.