The Latest: Fed governor to sue Trump, saying he can’t legally fire her

Financial markets worldwide have been rattled by President Donald Trump s announcement that he s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook an unprecedented move and sharp escalation in his effort to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics But Cook commented she s not leaving and her lawyer mentioned Tuesday that she ll sue to keep her job President Trump purported to fire me for cause when no cause exists under the law and he has no authority to do so Cook announced in an emailed report I will not resign Trump mentioned in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is removing Cook effective forthwith because of charges by one of his supporters that she committed mortgage fraud Field reaction was swiftly negative economists have long preferred independent central banks because they can more easily take unpopular policies to fight inflation and ensure the economic stability that is key to business confidence The Latest Duffy threatens funding over trucker English rules California Washington and New Mexico could lose millions of dollars of federal funding if they continue failing to enforce English language requirements for truckers Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reported Tuesday An study launched after a deadly Florida crash involving a foreign truck driver in the country illegally who made an illegal U-turn on Aug unveiled what Duffy called considerable failures in the way all three states are enforcing rules that took effect in June after one of Trump s executive orders This is about keeping people safe on the road Your families your kids your spouses your loved ones your friends We all use the roadway and we need to make sure that those who are driving big rigs semis can understand the road signs that they ve been well trained Duffy mentioned Read more on the trucker English funding threat Cook will sue the Trump administration to keep her job Fed governor Lisa Cook s lawyer Abbe Lowell mentioned 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 Lowell added We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action Trump declared late Monday that he would fire Cook after a supporter of his alleged she committed mortgage fraud in before she was appointed to the Fed Americans view on the financial system declines as job anxiety grows It s the eighth straight month of growing anxiety over a weakening job domain The Conference Board commented Tuesday that its consumer confidence index ticked down by points to in August down from July s A measure of short-term expectations for their income business conditions and the job region fell by points to remaining significantly below the marker that can signal a recession ahead And consumers assessments of their current economic situation also fell modestly to in August from in July While the unemployment and layoffs remain historically low there has been noticeable deterioration in the labor sphere and mounting evidence that people are having difficulty finding jobs Read more about declining American consumer confidence Sticker shock looms for consumers of cheap imports U S consumers have gotten used to shopping the world without paying customs duties on the international packages they receive from big e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu specialty shops and businesses that sell goods through online marketplaces like Amazon Etsy and eBay That era is about to end Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the United States as Trump seeks to make the nation less dependent on foreign goods and reset global pact with tariffs His executive order eliminates the widely used de minimis customs exemption for international shipments worth or less starting Friday nearly two years earlier than the deadline set in his tax and spending law Such shipments could be charged up to of their declared value or for the next six months up to per parcel Consumers are going to be shocked Alison Layfield a vice president at ePost Global Here are selected factors to keep in mind when shopping online to avoid a surprise customs bill Wisconsin next up on VP s swing-state tour to promote Trump tax and spending law Vice President JD Vance is set to touch down in La Crosse in the western part of the state on Thursday to talk about the law at a steel fabrication facility Vance has already visited the swing states of Georgia Pennsylvania and Ohio his home state to discuss the One Big Beautiful Bill Act A user s guide on how to lie Two key documents from the Trump administration aimed at revoking the long-standing finding that environment change is dangerous were filled with errors bias and distortions according to dozens of scientists surveyed by The Associated Press One argues that sea ice decline in the Arctic has been small citing input from the Antarctic Content presented on climate-related crop losses and wildfires were misapplied or unreliable Scientists noted basic errors but the bulk common critique from the vast majority of the who answered AP s questions was that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Capacity ignored twisted or cherry-picked information to manufacture doubt about the severity and threat of conditions change It is almost a user s guide on how to lie with figures commented Jennifer Marlon director of information science at the Yale Plan on Weather Change Communication Read more about the AP s survey of scientists on the Trump circumstances change reports Melania Trump announces nationwide AI contest for students The goal is to help students get content with artificial intelligence tools and to work together using them to solve region issues The first lady stated the Presidential AI Challenge in a short video Students in grades K- can sign up starting Tuesday at AI gov An adult or professor must sponsor a company Submissions are due by the end of December Regional competitions will be held in the spring followed by a White House event with the national winners The contest was called for under an executive order Trump signed in April GOP congressman says redistricting is a viable way to stop Trump impeachment Missouri Rep Mark Alford says mid-decade redistricting has really kind of opened the avenue for this to be a viable way to gain seats Speaking after a town hall meeting in Bolivar Missouri Monday the two-term Republican reported he didn t want to comment on the Trump-backed initiative to redraw Missouri s boundaries But then he noted We are looking to retain every seat we can and grow our majority Because if we don t come Jan everything will be about the impeachment of President Donald J Trump and I don t want to see that again Black leaders call Trump s firing of Cook racist misogynistic and unlawful House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries noted that Lisa Cook is the first Black woman ever to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Donald Trump is trying to remove her without a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong Jeffries declared The Congressional Black Caucus also condemned Trump s unprecedented actions In the -year history of the Federal Reserve no president has ever attempted to remove a governor of the central bank until now Let s be clear this is a racist misogynistic and unlawful attack on the integrity and independence of the Federal Reserve the caucus declared in a comment Wall Street steadies global markets sink on Trump effort to control Federal Reserve Wall Street has recovered several overnight losses in response to Trump s announcement that he s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook Futures for the Nasdaq Dow Jones Industrial Average and S P swung notably lower and preponderance markets overseas declined significantly after Trump disclosed he s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook They recovered several overnight losses after Cook responded by refusing to leave and hiring a lawyer to prevent what she called an illegal action Trump s decision to remove a sitting Fed governor has shaken confidence in the institution that underpins the world s financial system Nigel Green of the financial advisory deVere Group commented in a commentary Fed Governor Lisa Cook hires prominent lawyer Trump s effort to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is likely to touch off an extensive legal battle that will ostensibly go to the Supreme Court and could disrupt financial markets Stock futures declined slightly late Monday as did the dollar against other major currencies Cook has retained Abbe Lowell a prominent Washington attorney Lowell reported Trump s reflex to bully is flawed and his demands lack any proper process basis or legal authority adding We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action If Trump succeeds it could erode the political independence considered critical to the central bank s ability to ensure economic stability And if bond investors start to lose faith that the Fed can control inflation they will demand higher rates pushing up borrowing costs for mortgages car loans and business loans World shares sink after Trump escalates central bank feud Following Trump s Monday night announcement that he would be firing Cook Germany s DAX lost to while the CAC in Paris slumped to Britain s FTSE gave up to The futures for the S P and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were lower In Asian trading largest part benchmarks declined Democrats demand Trump resume a major offshore wind project A nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut faces an uncertain future after the Trump administration abruptly halted construction The states Democratic governors lawmakers and union workers called Monday for the president to reverse unit Judge rules Utah s congressional map must be redrawn for the elections The Utah Legislature will need to rapidly redraw the state s congressional boundaries after a judge ruled Monday that the Republican-controlled body circumvented safeguards put in place by voters to ensure districts aren t drawn to favor any party What to know about cashless bail after Trump s executive order Trump s executive order Monday threatens to withhold or revoke federal funding to local and state governments that offer cashless bail arguing that it is a threat to populace safety No cash Come back in a couple of months we ll give you a trial You never see the person again he disclosed moments before signing the order The order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to submit a list of jurisdictions that have substantially eliminated cash bail as a foreseen condition of pretrial release from custody for crimes that pose a clear threat to community safety and order within days Opponents of cash bail describe it as a penalty on poverty They say the wealthy can pay their way out of jail to await trial while those with fewer financial tools have to sit it out behind bars Supporters have argued that bail is a time-honored way to ensure defendants who are published from jail show up for court proceedings And they warn that violent criminals can commit other crimes while published pending trial Read more about cashless bail and what to know about the executive order Trump moves to ban flag burning despite Supreme Court ruling that Constitution allows it Trump Monday signed an executive order requiring the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people for burning the American flag an activity that the U S Supreme Court has ruled is legitimate political expression protected by the U S Constitution The order the Republican president signed in the Oval Office acknowledged the court s - ruling in a episode from Texas in but declared there is still room to prosecute flag burning if it is likely to incite imminent lawless action or amounts to fighting words You burn a flag you get one year in jail You don t get years you don t get one month Trump stated You get one year in jail and it goes on your record and you will see flag burning stopping instantly The order also called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue litigation to challenge the ruling aiming to return the issue to the Supreme Court which this day is much more conservative than the makeup of the court in and includes three judges Trump appointed Read more about the executive order Why the Federal Reserve has historically been independent of the White House The Fed wields extensive power over the U S financial system By cutting the short-term interest rate it controls which it typically does when the financial market falters the Fed can make borrowing cheaper and encourage more spending accelerating advancement and hiring When it raises the rate which it does to cool the business sector and combat inflation it can weaken the financial system and cause job losses Economists have long preferred independent central banks because they can more easily take unpopular initiatives to fight inflation such as raise interest rates which makes borrowing to buy a home car or appliance more expensive The importance of an independent Fed was cemented for majority economists after the extended inflation spike of the s and early s Former Fed Chair Arthur Burns has been widely blamed for allowing the painful inflation of that era to accelerate by succumbing to pressure from President Richard Nixon to keep rates low heading into the electoral contest Nixon feared higher rates would cost him the poll which he won in a landslide Read more about the relationship between the Fed and the White House Source