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President Donald Trump has formally claimed to have fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Cook, however, says she will not step down.

Cook is not going anywhere, Trump declared in a letter to the Fed governor on Saturday. “Effective immediately, you are removed from your position as a Governor of the Federal Reserve System,” the president wrote, asserting in his letter that he was acting under the powers granted to him by the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which gives him the authority to remove members of the Fed’s Board “for cause.”

“You have committed actions that, in my sole judgment, constitute sufficient reason to believe that you have made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements,” Trump wrote in the letter, which he posted on Truth Social. “For this and other reasons that I am prepared to document and prove, I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office.”

The president first called on Cook to resign on Monday, also via Truth Social. The order to resign on Saturday marks an escalation of a battle between the two that now raises legal and constitutional questions about the president’s authority to fire members of the Federal Reserve’s Board.

The charge against Cook was leveled by Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee at an agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte accused Cook of falsely listing two primary residences—one in Ann Arbor and another in Atlanta—in 2021 to qualify for favorable mortgage terms.

Appearing on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” Pulte described the allegations in apocalyptic terms.

“It’s very odd to see people try to twist back way sideways and upside down to justify mortgage fraud,” Pulte said. “This is a very serious crime. Mortgage fraud carries up to 30 years in prison. I believe the president has ample cause to fire Lisa Cook. Whether he wants to do that or not is entirely up to the president. However, we will go where mortgage fraud is. If mortgage fraud is with Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter—if you commit mortgage fraud in President Trump’s America, we’re going to come after you. And Lisa Cook is no exception to that.”

Pulte submitted a criminal referral to the Justice Department on Aug. 15, accusing Cook of “engaging in a scheme to falsify bank documents and property records” as well as “submitting false statements in connection with a mortgage.”

Cook was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board in 2022 by then-President Joe Biden, and she pushed back hard against Trump’s assertion that he had the power to dismiss her. “President Trump purported to fire me “for cause” when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022,” Cook said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

Cook has retained Abbe Lowell, a well-known lawyer who has represented Hunter Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. “President Trump has taken to social media to once again ‘fire by tweet,” and once again, his reflex to bully is flawed, and his demands lack any proper process, basis, or legal authority. We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action,” Lowell told Fox News Digital in response to Trump’s letter.

FOX Business reached out to the Federal Reserve for comment, but officials did not immediately respond.

Later, Lowell announced that he was filing a lawsuit on Cook’s behalf to block Trump’s action. “President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action,” Lowell said in a statement.

Democrats Decry Trump’s Move as Political

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., all released statements decrying Trump’s move.

Raskin told Axios, “What an outrage and a scandal. This is the big one constitutionally.”

Warren said the move was “an authoritarian power grab” and argued, “Trump is desperately looking for a scapegoat to cover for his own failure to lower costs for Americans, and firing Lisa Cook is his latest move.”

Jeffries said he was “alarmed and disappointed” by Trump’s “executive overreach.” “The president has no basis for this action, and his decision is yet another example of his disregard for the rule of law,” Jeffries said in a statement. “To date, there is not a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong.”

Jeffries also aimed at Trump himself. “To the extent anyone is unfit to serve in a position of responsibility because of deceitful and potentially criminal conduct, it is the current occupant of the White House. The American people are not buying your phony projection and slander of a distinguished public servant.”

Trump is clashing with the Fed once again over interest rate policy. Trump has called for the Fed to lower interest rates to drive down borrowing costs and service the national debt, which is now approaching $37 trillion.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.