August 26, 2025· 29 min

Lev Menand on Trump's Attempt to Fire the Fed's Lisa Cook

Lev Menand

Orality

Model

80%

Oral-dominant (speeches, podcasts, storytelling)

Speaker Breakdown

HostTracy Alloway(780 words)

M:29%

HostJoe Weisenthal(907 words)

M:29%

GuestLev Menand(3,060 words)

M:28%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic35%

obviously, totally, definitely

Engagement45%

you, our, your

Memory Aids100%

listen, like, now

Repetition100%

your (37x), president (34x), like (33x)

Parallelism74%

And I'm Joe Wiesenthal...., So we are recording this on Au..., And, the market reaction this ...

Sound Patterns62%

38 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"

Formulaic Phrases7%

you know what, i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging10%

may, suggest, maybe

Passive Voice11%

are associated, being included, were removed

Abstract Nouns24%

investment, community, business

Subordination10%

while, since, because

Sentence Length37%

Avg: 14.2 words/sentence

Word Complexity52%

investment, analyze, anticipate

Academic Markers0%

Impersonal Style55%

275 personal pronouns found

Descriptive Style82%

apply, internationally, obviously

Description

Criticism and threats to Federal Reserve independence have been building for some time in this administration. But it was taken to a new height on August 25, when Trump posted that he intended to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, a Biden appointee. According to our guest, Columbia Law Professor Lev Menand, this is a big deal that has created an immediate crisis. The Trump administration's argument is that it's firing Lisa Cook "for cause" due to allegations (and these are just allegations at this point) that she committed mortgage fraud. As Lev argues, these allegations alone can't justify the removal of someone in this position. We talk through the legal implications, the immediate path ahead, and what may ultimately be Trump's real aim when it comes to pressuring the Fed. Read more: Trump Moves to Fire Fed’s Cook, Setting Up Historic Fight Powell Opens Door to Interest Rate Cut, Citing Labor Markets Only Bloomberg - Business News, Stock Markets, Finance, Breaking & World News subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox each week, plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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