Did Collins v. Yellen Lead Trump To Fire Lisa Cook?

Bill Pulte, the director of the FHFA, could investigate the Federal Reserve because Trump could fire the holdover Biden appointee.

President Trump purported to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board, for cause. Here, at least, Trump is not asserting an absolute removal power over the Fed. Wilcox said in dicta the Fed was different than the FTC. And I think under the Solicitor General's position in CASA, the federal government would bind itself to the Supreme Court's holdings, as well as reasoning. I'm not sure how that analysis maps on the flag-burning executive order, but that is a topic for another time.

There is an angle of Cook's firing that has not gotten much attention. The alleged cause to remove Cook is that she falsified terms on a mortgage. And who made that allegation? Bill Pulte. Who is Bill Pulte you might ask? The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

That agency should sound familiar. The FHFA was headed by a single director who served a five year term, and could only be removed for cause. Collins v. Yellen (2021) held that the structure of the FHFA was unconstitutional.

Collins was decided on June 23, 2021. That day, President Biden fired Mark Calabria, who was President Trump's appointee to that position. Biden replaced Calabria with Sandra Thompson, who began her five-year term in 2022. Thompson resigned on the eve of the inauguration.

Do you see the connection? Had the Supreme Court upheld the structure of the FHFA, President Biden's nominee would still be in office, serving out her five-year term. And I suspect she would not be investigating potential mortgage fraud for Lisa Cook. But, in reality, President Trump has his own nominee at the head of the FHFA. And Pulte is using his authority to investigate the Federal Reserve.

One Supreme Court case on the unitary executive begets another Supreme Court case on the unitary executive.

Then again, if the Court had upheld the structure of the FHFA, the road to overruling Humphrey's Executor would have been cut short.

Comments

[roger]

I am shocked, shocked! that Josh doesn't feel like discussing the flag-burning order.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

I am shocked, shocked! that roger doesn't feel like discussing the topic of the post.

[thesafesurfer]

Lisa Cook is a banker who committed mortgage fraud.

[Martinned]

I am told that New Yorkers committing a bit of occasional fraud is so ordinary that prosecuting them would be unconstitutional.

[Krayt]

Going after them because they're your political opponents, faceting concern for rule of law, is something that should not be done.

Don't be angry. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. This is your world, with clever thinkers trumpeting surface rationalizations to git 'im.

Or git 'er, as the case may be.

Launch all talking heads!

[Martinned]

Going after them because they're your political opponents, faceting concern for rule of law, is something that should not be done.

So we agree that Trump shouldn't go after Lisa Cook because she won't obey his instructions wrt interest rates?

[y81]

Maybe we agree. Are you saying that Letitia James should not have gone after Trump? If so, we agree. Not that anyone cares.

[Doug Heffernan]

Yes, Pulte used the apparatus of the FHFA to target a political opponent. The only way anyone would have noticed a problem with Cook's loan application is that Pulte, as head of FHFA, directed Fannie or Freddie to pull her application.

Thompson wouldn't have done this. Probably no prior head of the FHFA would have done this either. Is that good or bad? That probably depends if it is being done by your side or to your side.

[Kazinski]

I read they have an AI app that they are using to mass screen the mortgage database, so that may not be true they targeted her specifically.

Now they may indeed be cross referencing lists of government officials, but I don't have a problem with prioritizing government officials for enforcement.

And keep in mind that it is perfectly legal to have mortgages on more than one property that were listed as the primary residence on a mortgage application, as long as the mortgages were taken out more than a year apart. Her mortgages were within 20 days, that is not inadvertent.

[Doug Heffernan]

Maybe someday, through a FOIA response or other means, the public will find out if the review of Cook's loan application was initiated manually or done through some non-specific mass process.

If it was done as part of a non-targeted non-individualized mass process, it must just be mere coincidence that democrats that Trump is not particularly fond of (such as Adam Schiff and Letitia James) have been caught up in this non-targeted net.

No republican offenders have been identified yet. Maybe republicans are just especially careful and honest when it comes to mortgage applications. Although no one in the Trump administration has asked the DOJ (or anyone else) to look into the similar allegations against Ken Paxton.

[Michael P]

Or maybe Democrats are especially dishonest cheats when it comes to mortgage applications for second and third homes. If you're going to advocate a partisan explanation, let's go with the one that fits past evidence better.

[Sarcastr0]

Not even you believe that.

Have some self-respect.

[Michael P]

Dude, we already assume you have nothing but denialism. You don't have to actually post a comment to prove the assumption each time.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Here you are again, discerning what other people believe, in spite of whining whenever someone makes a remark about what you believe.

Stay hypocritical, bud. If it's the only tool in your toolbox, you may as well use it.

[Martinned]

And I think under the Solicitor General's position in CASA, the federal government would bind itself to the Supreme Court's holdings, as well as reasoning.

That was always a completely hilarious notion.

[TwelveInchPianist]

Are you suggesting they didnt?

[F.D. Wolf]

When Biden entered office in 2021 and fired a slew of Trump appointees, the media narrative was, "Biden removing Trump loyalists from government." When Trump entered office (again) in 2025 and began firing Biden appointees, the media narrative was, "Trump attacking independence of government agencies."

When Biden fired Trump appointees Sean Spicer and Russell Vought from their posts on the Naval Academy Board of Visitors (despite their statutory 5-year terms), they challenged their firings in court and lost. I suspect Spicer and Vought were less interested in keeping their jobs than in creating a precedent for future presidents. (Which they did).

[David Nieporent]

The attempted whataboutism is of course misplaced, since the statute creating the positions Spicer and Vought held (10 USC § 8468) did not include for cause protections from removal, unlike all of Trump's "controversial" purges.

(Also, the statute provided for three-year terms, not five-year ones, which is irrelevant to the legal issue but is an error by Wolf.)

[Michael P]

Did Bill Pulte also drive the plagiarism accusations against Lisa Cook that were another factor in her firing? If so, can I borrow his time machine?

[Sarcastr0]

Just pathetic.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Name-calling because you have no rebuttal: just pathetic.

[Sarcastr0]

Yeah, sometimes there's no need to engage seriously.

Like this transparently desperate muckraking attempt.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Perhaps you don't know the meaning of all the words you bandy about.

[ReaderY]

Because Congress, in its wisdom, made even the slightest white lie mistatement on a mortgage application 30-year felony bank fraud, as long as it was material, President Trump is very likely within his rights to fire Lisa Cook, for good cause, without implicating any question about whether Federal Reserve governors can be fired at will without good cause. I expect his action will be upheld by the courts. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if his administration prosecutes her and seeks a long prison sentence.

Three Felonies A Day has come home to roost. In enacting extremely broad laws, Congress created a world which made it easy for a President to ensnare political rivals in massive criminal prosecutions with draconian sentences over minor-seeming misconduct.

[Swede425]

Everybody calm down.
This claim of mortgage fraud should be pretty simple to prove/disprove.
Did she check the box that claimed this is her primary residence?
On 2 different mortgages in under a year?
I imagine we'll find out soon.
Prediction: "Oops, did I check that box "yes". I meant to check that box "no". My bad".
I get the feeling that she'll be out of a job. At least this job.