White House panel postpones hearing on Fed’s Lisa Cook until Dec. 14

A White House investigative panel postponed a hearing with Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from Thursday to Dec. 14 to determine whether allegations of misrepresentations in mortgage applications justify her firing by President Donald Trump, a White House official said Wednesday evening.

But it was unclear whether Cook, whom Trump unsuccessfully tried to fire in August 2025, would agree to attend.

The official said the postponement came at Cook’s request.

His lawyer, Father Lowell, said last month that questions about the committee’s fairness and objectivity would have to be resolved before the hearing could take place.

Lowell also said the hearing could only take place in December, at the earliest, because she “will be carrying out her official duties as governor at financial and monetary policy meetings in Europe.”

The New York Times was first to report the rescheduling of the hearing.

In early October, Trump created a committee to investigate allegations that Cook made false statements regarding “one or more mortgage instruments.”

“The committee will investigate the allegations against Governor Cook and report to me whether there is ’cause’ for Governor Cook’s removal within the meaning of” a federal law cited in a Supreme Court ruling in June that temporarily blocked his dismissal.

The committee is comprised of Kevin Hassett, assistant to the president for economic policy, Andrea Lucas, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Office of Government Ethics Director Keith Sonderling.

Cook has denied any wrongdoing.

In a lawsuit challenging her firing, she argued that Trump’s claims about mortgage statements were pretext and that the real reason he was trying to oust her was her refusal to agree to her demands to vote for lower interest rates.

Trump created the committee more than three months after the Supreme Court ruled that the president cannot, for now, remove Cook from the central bank’s board.

The ruling kept in effect a lower court’s order preventing Cook’s firing while the lawsuit challenging his firing was pending.

The decision did not determine whether Trump ultimately had the authority to fire a Fed board member. But he said she could remain on the board since her lawsuit was ongoing because she was not given due process to challenge her dismissal.

The investigative panel created by Trump could be designed to show the Supreme Court that Cook now received due process.

CNBC has reached out to Lowell for comment.