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Hassett Briefs Reporters on the Cook Removal Fight and India Tariffs, Aug. 27, 2025

August 27, 2025 · Roll Call Factbase Videos · 0:02:37

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What happened

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett spoke to reporters outside the White House on August 27, 2025, in Roll Call Factbase Videos’ recording. On Fed Governor Lisa Cook, Hassett said the President absolutely has authority to fire a Fed governor for cause, called the accusations over her mortgage forms serious, and said that if he were in her circumstance he would take leave until the matter was resolved — saying the fact that she was not doing so suggested a partisan stance contrary to the Fed’s independence, as he stated it. He said his understanding was that the matter had been handed to the Justice Department for investigation.

On the tariffs on India implemented that day, Hassett called the relationship complicated, tying it to putting extra pressure on Russia toward a peace deal and to Indian reluctance to open their markets to U.S. products, as he stated it. He said negotiations have ebbs and flows before a final position, and that if the Indians did not budge, he did not think President Trump would either.

Why it matters

The gaggle is the NEC director’s on-record defense of the Cook removal — for-cause authority plus the take-leave argument — delivered the week it became the Fed-independence fight of the term, alongside the Russia-pressure rationale for the India tariffs.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the Cook removal position and the India-tariff rationale as Hassett stated them on August 27, 2025 — flagged for the scoreboard editors; the entry itself remains review-gated.

Sources: Roll Call Factbase Videos, ‘Press Briefing: Kevin Hassett Speaks to Reporters Outside the White House — August 27, 2025,’ August 27, 2025 (video W_LTUYJPnN8); transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, never republished verbatim).