Waters urges Fed independence, FHFA probe in Trump-Cook fight

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, sent two letters this week that seek investigations into actions by President Donald Trump at the Federal Reserve.

One letter was sent to John Allen, the acting inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), while the other was addressed French Hill, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Waters’ letter to Hill — which was co-led with Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) and signed by more than a dozen Democratic members of Congress — urged the chair to “convene a full Committee hearing on how President Trump’s unlawful and damaging attacks have undermined the Federal Reserve’s independence and threatened executive control of monetary policy.”

The letter calls for the maintenance of the Fed’s independence and speaks to the strict limits set by Congress on removing Fed governors.

Waters’ letter follows Trump’s recent attempt to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from her position over allegations of mortgage fraud, an effort that a federal judge blocked earlier this week after Cook filed suit against the president.

In the ruling, Judge Jia Cobb said that Trump’s reasons for removing Cook did not meet the standard for sufficient cause, pointing out that the alleged misconduct occurred before she became a Fed governor.

The Trump administration has since appealed, asking a federal court to allow it to proceed with her dismissal and prevent her from attending next week’s central bank meeting on interest rates.

Waters’ letter claims that Trump’s attempt to oust Cook without due process is “all to seize power that the President does not have under our Constitution.”

In the second letter addressed to Allen, Waters and several of the same Democratic co-signers in the letter to Hill expressed concerns that FHFA Director Bill Pulte and the agency may not have followed laws or proper procedures when they obtained, reviewed and publicly released information about Cook’s mortgage applications. Waters asked Allen to investigate the procedures.