Fired fed governor’s lawyer argues that her removal does ‘irreparable harm’
Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, is arguing that her firing does “irreparable harm”. He says that Cook ultimately took an oath before Congress, and what she’s being “deprived of” is more than a paycheck, but the ability “to satisfy the oath” she took and “not to be removed from anything but cause”.
He added that while this lawsuit works its way through the court, the “status quo” should stay in place:
She [Cook] should not be taken out of her office. She shouldn’t be disconnected to her electronics. She should be able to participate in the meeting. She should do all the things that she did a week ago before all this started, because that is the status quo.
Key events
In a rebuttal, Abbe Lowell, Cook’s lawyer, offers a stern indictment of Trump’s basis for “cause”.
“Any reason is now cause,” Lowell says. “That could possibly mean the president decides it was cause because governor Cook decides to attend to a meeting in a pant suit instead of a dress, and he didn’t think that has enough respect for the institution. That’s cause.”
Trump’s lawyer is citing case precedent now when it comes the question of Cook’s firing doing “irreparable harm”.
“The harm of having a somebody in office who was wrongfully there outweighs the harm of somebody being wrongfully removed from office,” he says.
The lawyer for the administration is going back-and-forth with Judge Cobb now, arguing that Cook has, in fact, had the opportunity to respond to Bill Pulte’s allegations.
“No response, no intent, no letter saying: ‘hey, I disagree with this’,” Trump’s lawyers say.
We’re now hearing from Trump’s lawyers. The justice department says that it doesn’t “see the argument that for a very senior financial regulatory official making contradictory representations on financial documents with no explanation” isn’t grounds for removal.
Fired fed governor’s lawyer argues that her removal does ‘irreparable harm’
Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, is arguing that her firing does “irreparable harm”. He says that Cook ultimately took an oath before Congress, and what she’s being “deprived of” is more than a paycheck, but the ability “to satisfy the oath” she took and “not to be removed from anything but cause”.
He added that while this lawsuit works its way through the court, the “status quo” should stay in place:
She [Cook] should not be taken out of her office. She shouldn’t be disconnected to her electronics. She should be able to participate in the meeting. She should do all the things that she did a week ago before all this started, because that is the status quo.
New Trump rule to ban VA abortions for veterans even in cases of rape and incest
Aaron Glantz
Doctors at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would be barred from performing abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, under new rules proposed by the Trump administration.
The draft regulations, which also forbid providers from counseling female veterans about terminating a pregnancy, have generated nearly 20,000 comments in the federal register from conservative activists, abortion rights supporters and female veterans, many of them survivors of sexual assault.
“I am a veteran, a mother, and my abortion saved my life,” wrote Mary Dodson-Otten, a 41-year-old nurse and air force veteran who lives outside Atlanta, Georgia.
Dodson-Otten told the Guardian she ended a pregnancy in her 20s after she got pregnant by an abusive boyfriend who was a fellow service member. Without the abortion, she said, “I don’t think I would have survived, whether it would have been him hurting me or me hurting me.”
The rule proposed by the Trump administration has an exception that allows abortions to take place “when a physician certifies that the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term”. But abortion rights advocates said the exception was too limited.
“Women are going to die,” predicted Caitlin Russell, a former US army captain who served two tours in Afghanistan and studies female veterans’ health at the University of Pennsylvania.
Lowell now says that the charges of mortgage fraud are not clear in Pulte’s “middle-of-the-night allegations” on social media. He underscores that Cook has not had the chance to respond, and tell her “side of the story” in a hearing.
A notable exchange here. Lowell says that “motive” alone is not what Cook’s counsel is disputing here. Instead, he says that a bad motive can “illuminate” that there was “no cause to begin with”.
He characterizes Trump’s surrounding pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates as crucial context for the president’s willingness to fire Cook “on the basis of a single social media posting”.
Lowell is running through the events that led to Cook’s attempted firing.
Namely that the president cited Bill Pulte’s referral letter, which says that Cook “appears” to have done something wrong, when he fired the governor via a post on Truth Social. There wasn’t any “investigational charge”, as Lowell notes.
Lowell says that Judge Cobb would need to determine what constitutes as “cause” in this case.
Without getting into the legal weeds here, “cause” isn’t defined in the Federal Reserve Act, so the Trump administration argues the president can have a broad basis to fire Cook.
Lowell argues that “cause” is the crux of this case.
Hearing in Lisa Cook’s lawsuit challenging her firing begins
A hearing in Lisa Cook’s lawsuit, challenging the president attempts to remove her from the Federal Reserve board of governors, has started.
Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, confirms that they’re seeking a temporary restraining order to block the president’s from firing the governor.
We’ll bring you the latest developments here.
Attorney general says 86 arrested in DC on Thursday
Attorney general Pam Bondi said that federal law enforcement had made 86 arrests in Washington DC on Thursday.
This includes a “suspected Tren de Aragua gang member”, she wrote in a post on X.
Bondi added that 1,369 arrests had been made since the beginning of the federal law enforcement surge earlier this month.
Per my earlier post, a reminder that we have a hearing in the lawsuit filed by fired Fed governor Lisa Cook, challenging her termination by Donald Trump.
A DC federal judge, Jia Cobb, will hear arguments at 10am ET today in the case. A reminder that Cook hasn’t been charged with a crime. The president alleges she has committed mortgage fraud, based on claims cited in a letter sent by Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Trump revokes Kamala Harris’s Secret Service detail extended by Biden
Anna Betts
Donald Trump has revoked Secret Service protection for the former vice-president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, according to a letter obtained by CNN, and confirmed to the Guardian by a senior White House official.
The letter, dated on Thursday and titled “Memorandum for the Secretary of Homeland Security”, instructs the Secret Service to “discontinue any security-related procedures beyond those required by law” effective 1 September 2025.
Under federal law, former vice-presidents are entitled to receive Secret Service protection for six months after leaving office.
For Harris, that period ended on 21 July. However, CNN reports that her protection had been extended for an additional year, under an undisclosed directive signed by then president Joe Biden before leaving office.
Trump’s new directive cancels that extension.
“You are hereby authorized to discontinue any security-related procedures previously authorized by Executive Memorandum, beyond those required by law, for the following individual, effective September 1, 2025: Former Vice President Kamala D. Harris,” the letter reads.
Senate Democrats sign letter to postpone confirmation hearing for new Fed governor nominee
All Democrats on the Senate banking, housing, and urban affairs committee have signed a letter to Republican chair Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina, to postpone Stephen Miran’s confirmation hearing to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors – scheduled for next week.
The lawmakers say that Donald Trump’s decision to fire Lisa Cook earlier this week is an “unprecedented attempt” to “undermine” the US central bank’s independence. Instead, the Democrats say the committee should “hold an oversight hearing on the legal and economic implications of the President’s actions”.
The added in the letter:
We have a responsibility to the American public to ensure that the Federal Reserve is making decisions that are in the best interest of businesses and households, pursuant to its congressional mandate, not based on the whims of the President.
Important to note that Miran was announced as the president’s pick to replace Adriana Kugler, who resigned early from her post. If confirmed, Miran would fulfill the remainder of Kugler’s term, which expires at the end of January.
If Trump’s attempt to oust Cook from the Federal Reserve board is successful, that would create another vacancy for him to nominate a governor.
DC restaurants take a hit as workers, terrified of Ice raids, stay home
Kira Lerner
Hernán was at the Latin American restaurant that he owns with his brother in north-west Washington DC last week when his staff started getting phone calls and messages about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) checkpoints in the neighborhood. The employees, scared that they might be targeted and racially profiled, asked if they could go home.
Within hours, Hernán had to close their doors, and the restaurant hasn’t been open since.
“Literally after President Trump brought the national guard on DC, everything stopped,” said Hernán, who requested his last name not be used due to fears of Ice retaliation. “Everything disappeared because the bike delivery guys, they’re scared. They’re not on the streets right now. My people, most of my cooks are Spanish[-speaking] and they don’t want to go to DC right now.”
Hernán, who also owns a restaurant in Maryland, said he was hoping to be able to reopen in a few weeks if and when the Trump administration’s takeover of the DC police ends and immigration enforcement arrests become less frequent. But the future is unclear for him and many restaurant owners in the US capital.
Already suffering from fewer customers due to the administration’s almost three-week-long crackdown, restaurants are also having to contend with staff shortages because many immigrants, both documented and undocumented, fear coming into DC and being on the streets, and some have been detained by Ice.
Donald Trump doesn’t have any public events scheduled today, according to the White House.
We’ll keep you updated if that changes, and also keep an eye out for any posts on Truth Social or impromptu press availability.
