Former Fed Gov. Kugler’s property records deepen mystery of her
Former Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler’s abrupt resignation from the board on Aug. 1 – and her unexplained absence at a key meeting two days earlier – left the financial community shocked and confused.
Nominated by Democratic former President Joe Biden to fill a surprise vacancy on the Fed board and confirmed in 2023, Kugler’s term was not set to expire until January of 2026.
In her Aug. 1 resignation letter, addressed to Trump, Kugler offered no explanation for why she was leaving her job just months before her term ended.
“I am writing to notify you that I am resigning from my position as a governor of the Federal Reserve Board effective August 8, 2025,” she wrote.
“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.”
The Federal Reserve said in a press release also on Aug. 1 that Kugler “will return to Georgetown University as a professor this fall.”
But Kugler’s faculty page on Georgetown’s website does not show her teaching any courses this fall.
On the contrary, the university still lists Kugler as a “governor of the Federal Reserve Board” who is “on leave of absence from Georgetown.”
A spokesperson for Georgetown did not reply to emailed questions from CNBC about Kugler’s status with the university.
Trump suggested that Kugler had resigned because she “disagreed with someone from her party.”
“She disagreed with ‘Too Late’ on the interest rate, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House Aug. 1, using his favorite nickname for Powell.
The mystery surrounding Kugler’s resignation, and questions about whether she might have been pressured to step down, have gained a new urgency in the weeks since she resigned.
This week, Kugler declined CNBC’s request for an explanation of why she resigned so abruptly.
She also declined to say whether anyone had pressured her to resign from the Fed.
The campaign against Cook
On Aug. 20, Federal Housing Finance Agency director William Pulte revealed that he had launched a campaign to force Kugler’s former colleague on the board, Fed governor Lisa Cook, to resign.
Specifically, Pulte accused Cook of having committed “mortgage fraud” by listing two properties as her “primary residence” on mortgage paperwork. He also suggested she could have received lower interest rates if both properties were considered “primary” residences.
On Aug. 15, Pulte had filed a criminal referral against Cook, alleging to the Justice Department that she had committed mortgage fraud.
Five days later, President Donald Trump said he was firing Cook over the accusations, writing in a letter to her posted on social media that they gave him sufficient cause “to remove you from your position.”
Cook responded to Trump’s letter hours later, saying, “no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to” remove her from the board.
“I will not resign,” Cook said in a statement. “I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American…
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