Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has warned that US President Donald Trump’s attempt to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook is risk to the central bank.
In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times, Yellen said Trump’s move amounted to a pretext for an “autocratic power grab.”
She argued that accusations of mortgage fraud against Cook do not meet the legal standard required for her dismissal and cautioned that the action sends a chilling message to other members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee.
Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to sit on the Fed’s Board of Governors, has rejected Trump’s bid to oust her, insisting he has no legal authority to do so.
Trump has frequently clashed with the central bank, previously criticising Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates quickly enough.
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