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Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook will not resign after President Donald Trump said he fired her “effective immediately” in a letter posted to Truth Social on Friday. Trump’s letter set off a constitutional showdown after Cook, a Biden appointee who was tapped for the post in 2022, said the president did not have the power to fire her.

The letter, posted to Truth Social, came five days after Trump first called for Cook to resign on the platform. He alleged that the Cook, who served as an economics professor at Michigan State University before her appointment to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, had “made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.”

“I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office,” Trump wrote in the letter, which he shared on Truth Social on Friday.

Trump, who has repeatedly railed against the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policies, said in the letter that he was acting under his authority to remove governors from the Fed’s Board “for cause” in the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.

The president added that “based on the credible information contained in the attached, I believe there is sufficient reason to conclude you have made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements. Therefore, I have determined that cause exists to remove you from office as a Governor of the Federal Reserve System.”

Cook quickly shot back at the president in a statement shared with Fox News Digital, saying that Trump did not have the authority to fire 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.

Cook is being represented by Abbe Lowell, a 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 said in a statement.

FOX Business has reached out to the Federal Reserve for comment. Officials did not immediately respond.

Later on Friday, Lowell said he would file a lawsuit on Cook’s behalf to challenge Trump’s move. “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.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., also all condemned Trump’s actions.

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

Warren claimed the move was “an authoritarian power grab” and added that “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 in a statement, “Governor Cook is a distinguished public servant. This decision is based on flimsy and false allegations for which there is not a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong. 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.”

In a recent interview with Fox News, Cook downplayed the allegations brought by Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to an agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte, who accused Cook of using two primary residences to game the system and obtain two different mortgage loans, added fuel to the fire.

“It’s very odd to see people try to twist back way sideways and upside down to justify mortgage fraud,” Pulte said on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria.” “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 a Republican or a 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 sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department on August 15, alleging that Cook had falsified bank documents and property records.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.