Trump Considers Firing Fed Official After Allegation of Mortgage Fraud
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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President Trump considers firing a Biden-appointed Federal Reserve governor for alleged mortgage fraud. Plus, the Alpha School that has become billionaire Bill Ackman's new pet project.
The two hours of AI-powered learning in the morning is all focused on the core subjects that you tend to think of when you think of school. But one thing that you will not find are lessons on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
And demand for freight tracking services grows to tackle a rise in cargo theft. It's Wednesday, August 20th. I'm Pierre Bien-Aimé for The Wall Street Journal, sitting in for Alex Ocelot. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that moved the world today. President Trump has told aides he is considering firing a Biden-appointed Federal Reserve governor after one of his housing officials accused her of mortgage fraud. That's according to a senior White House official and another person familiar with the matter. Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, alleged on social media today that Fed Governor Lisa Cook submitted what he called fraudulent information on a pair of mortgage applications.
In response to Politi's claims, Trump wrote in a social media post that, quote, Cook must resign now. According to the White House official and person familiar with the matter, the president is discussing how to fire Cook for cause if she doesn't resign. A spokesman for the Fed's Board of Governors said he had no immediate comment. Matt Grossman covers economics for The Wall Street Journal. Matt, what are the allegations against Cook?
When you submit a mortgage application, you have to designate whether the property is a primary residence or not. And if it is, it could give you a lower interest rate or things like that. The accusation from this federal official is that Governor Lisa Cook of the Federal Reserve, 14 days apart, said that two different properties were her primary residence as she was applying for mortgages. In the social media post from Bill Pulte, we get images of her signatures, but no context of the rest of the mortgage application. So there's not really much evidence here besides the allegation that Bill Pulte has made.
What are the initial headlines and episode overview?
As the head of the FHFA, one of Bill Pulte's main responsibilities is overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. the housing finance agencies. It doesn't have a lot to do with the Federal Reserve. From his seat, Pulte has criticized the Fed for keeping interest rates high. He says that that has made mortgage rates higher than they might otherwise be. And it seems like Pulte was using his position in the FHFA to maybe gain access to some of these mortgage documents that he says show that Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud.
Another Fed governor resigned earlier this month. Would a new opening here give President Trump an opportunity to further shape the central bank?
In August, Adriana Coogler resigned. She was also, like Lisa Cook, a governor who was appointed by President Biden during his administration. So if this should result in another opening, it would give Trump a second opportunity to replace a Biden-appointed governor. with someone of his choice. Of course, it's far from clear whether Lisa Cook is going to resign or whether Trump has the power to fire her if he wants. That's a matter of some controversy.
What's Trump's vision for the Federal Reserve?
This year so far, Trump has really been preoccupied with lower interest rates. He's been very frustrated at Fed Chair Jerome Powell for holding interest rates steady since January.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:42
2
What are the initial headlines and episode overview?
2:42–7:00
3
What allegations prompted Trump to call for Fed governor Lisa Cook's resignation?
7:00–10:54
4
How did Matt Grossman explain the alleged mortgage application discrepancies?
10:54–13:51
Speakers
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