(The Center Square) – A Federal Reserve governor accused of mortgage fraud filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging her firing was “unprecedented and illegal.”

Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, appointed by President Joe Biden, on Monday after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte alleged she committed mortgage fraud.

Pulte said Cook owns properties in Georgia and Michigan but had separately listed both as her “primary residence” on different mortgage agreements. A primary residence can mean lower mortgage rates. 

Cook hit back on Thursday with a lawsuit. She said the independence of the central bank was at risk.

“The operational independence of the Federal Reserve is vital to its ability to make sound economic decisions, free from the political pressures of an election cycle,” Cook’s attorney, Abbe David Lowell, wrote in the suit.

He said allegations of wrongdoing don’t meet the requirement for “cause” to terminate. 

“This case challenges President Trump’s unprecedented and illegal attempt to remove Governor Cook from her position which, if allowed to occur, would the first of its kind in the Board’s history,” Lowell wrote in the lawsuit. “It would subvert the Federal Reserve Act, which explicitly requires a showing of ’cause’ for a Governor’s removal, which an unsubstantiated allegation about private mortgage applications submitted by Governor Cook prior to her Senate confirmation is not.”

U.S. courts have never weighed in on what constitutes “for cause” when removing a Federal Reserve board of governors member because it hasn’t ever happened. 

Cook’s suit names Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the board of governors as defendants.

The lawsuit comes amid Trump’s high-profile campaign to get the Federal Reserve to lower key interest rates. Trump has said the U.S. should have the lowest rates in the world, but the Federal Open Market Committee has taken a wait-and-see approach on rates over concerns about how Trump’s tariffs would affect the economy. 

Trump said he has the authority to fire Cook “for cause” and did so appropriately. 

On Monday evening, Trump posted a termination letter to Cook on his Truth Social account.

“The American people must be able to have full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve,” the president wrote. “In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter, they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.”

The Federal Reserve said it would abide by a court decision.

Last week, Powell hinted that the Fed may lower interest rates at its next meeting.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated it might treat the Federal Reserve differently than other independent agencies.

The nation’s highest court said the president and the Federal Reserve’s relationship differed from other independent agencies.

“The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States,” the high court wrote in an emergency ruling in May.

One of Wall Street’s top bankers also warned against a move on the Fed. 

“Playing around with the Fed could have adverse consequences, the absolute opposite of what you might be hoping for,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said during an earnings call. “It is important that they be independent.”

(The Center Square) – An estimated 1.5 million people were displaced during Hurricane Katrina across Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, but most significantly from New Orleans.

It is estimated that 40% of displaced families did not return to the city.

As the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina arrives Friday, The Center Square spoke with former New Orleans resident Lauren Breaux, who was evacuated with her family during the destructive storm.

“We had evacuated many times leading up to Katrina,” Breaux said. “I think already once that year, so we were nonchalant about the entire situation. I remember we started to realize the gravity of the situation when we were driving home and our side of the road was completely clear going back into the city.

“We didn’t know until seeing the cars bumper to bumper trying to exit the city, how bad it was going to be.”

Breaux and her family lost their home, part of the $125 billion destruction caused by a storm that mercifully dropped from Category 5 to Category 3 when making landfall.

A study conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that 1.12 million of those displaced from their homes were living in Louisiana before Hurricane Katrina. Of the remaining evacuees, 288,000 were residing in Mississippi and 88,000 in Alabama.

“Once the levee broke, there was no hope for our home,” said Breaux. “We had water through our attic, and possibly above our roof, but we are not 100% sure since no one could be down there at the peak water height.”

Her family eventually settled across Lake Pontchartrain in Pearl River months after evacuating.

Saint Tammany, Orleans, Jefferson, Saint Charles, Terrebonne and Saint Bernard were among the most displaced counties in Louisiana during the storm. Each county had between 10,000 to 350,000 residents evacuated.

While Breaux and her family did not return to New Orleans, 61.9% of Louisiana evacuees returned to their prior residence after the storm. It is reported that on average, families who evacuated but returned to their former address were displaced for 33 days.

Those who did not return settled in other parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and Arkansas.

Now, the New Orleans population sits at 380,000, a drop of about 80,000 – or roughly a tick more than can fill the Superdome for Saints football games. The NFL team lost its home, too, relocating to various other “home” venues from San Antonio to New York.

Residents who moved back to the city had to rebuild or move entirely and still feel the effects of the storm 20 years later.

Emilee Ruth Calametti currently serves as Staff Reporter for The Center Square covering the Northwestern Louisiana region. She holds her M.A. in English from Georgia State University and an additional M.A. in Journalism from New York University. Her articles have been featured in DIG Magazine, Houstonia Magazine, Bookstr, inRegister, EntertainmentNOW, AOL, MSN, and more. She is a Louisiana native with over seven years of journalism experience.

(The Center Square) – The University of Michigan’s hospital system, Michigan Medicine, announced it will no longer provide hormonal therapies and puberty blocker medications for minors.

This came in response to the Trump Administration opening criminal and civil investigations into those providing transgender treatments for minors throughout the country

“In light of that investigation, and given escalating external threats and risks, we will no longer provide gender affirming hormonal therapies and puberty blocker medications for minors,” said a statement from Michigan Medicine released Monday.

“We recognize the gravity and impact of this decision for our patients and our community,” it continued. “We are working closely with all those impacted, and we will continuously support the well-being of our patients, their families, and our teams.”

Michigan Medicine was just one of more than 20 doctors and clinics that were subpoenaed by the Department of Justice in early July.

They were subpoenaed for their part in “performing transgender medical procedures on children,” according to the department.

“Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

On Michigan Medicine’s webpage which previously listed its transgender treatments, it posted more details about its decision to end those for all patients under the age of 19.

“In response to unprecedented legal and regulatory threats to our clinicians and our institution, we have made the difficult decision to stop prescribing puberty blockers and gender affirming hormones for patients under age 19,” it stated. “We will continue to care for our gender diverse patients, providing all appropriate care other than puberty blockers and gender affirming hormones. Care for patients age 19 and over is not affected by this change.”

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel pushed back against Michigan Medicine’s decision to end those transgender treatments, calling it “shameful, dangerous, and potentially illegal.”

In response to Michigan Medicine’s decision, Nessel’s office reissued an open letter to all Michigan health care providers.

The letter outlines that to refuse these health care services might be discrimination under Michigan law.

“This cowardly acquiescence to political pressure from this president and his administration is not what patients have come to expect from an institution that has labeled itself, ‘the leaders and the best,’ and my department will be considering all of our options if they violate Michigan law,” Nessel said. “UM has chosen instead to sacrifice the health, well-being, and likely the very lives of Michigan children, to protect itself from the ire of an administration who, oftentimes, engages in unlawful actions itself.”

Earlier this month, Nessel also joined a multi-state lawsuit seeking to protect transgender health care for minors.

Others have applauded this move and the Trump Administration’s push to end these treatments nationwide.

“Pressure from the Trump Administration is working,” said a statement from the American Principles Project, a conservative policy group that has been outspoken against transgender treatment for minors. “Thank you, POTUS.”

Elyse Apel is a reporter for The Center Square covering Colorado and Michigan. A graduate of Hillsdale College, Elyse’s writing has been published in a wide variety of national publications from the Washington Examiner to The American Spectator and The Daily Wire.