By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

A case that could provide the Trump administration with new and expansive power over the traditionally independent Federal Reserve will get its first court hearing Friday.

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has requested an emergency injunction to block President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her over allegations that she committed mortgage fraud when she purchased a home and condo in 2021. She was appointed to the Fed’s board by former president Joe Biden in 2022.

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If her firing is allowed to stand, it would likely erode the Fed’s longstanding independence from day-to-day politics. No president has ever fired a Fed governor in the agency’s 112-year history. Economists broadly support Fed independence because it makes it easier for the central bank to take unpopular steps such as raising interest rates to combat inflation.

Cook has asked the court to issue an emergency order that would block Trump’s firing of her and enable her to remain on the seven-member board of governors while her lawsuit seeking to overturn the firing makes its way through the courts. Many observers expect her case will end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The law governing the Fed says the president can’t fire a governor just because they disagree over interest rate policy. Trump has repeatedly demanded that the Fed, led by Chair Jerome Powell, reduce its key interest rate, which is currently 4.3%. Yet the Fed has kept it unchanged for the last five meetings.

But the president may be able to fire a Fed governor “for cause,” which has traditionally been interpreted to mean inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance. Cook’s lawyers argue that it also refers only to conduct while in office. They also say that she was entitled to a hearing and an opportunity to rebut the charges.

“The unsubstantiated and unproven allegation that Governor Cook ‘potentially’ erred in filling out a mortgage form prior to her Senate confirmation — does not amount to ‘cause,’” the lawsuit says.

Trump has moved to fire a number of leaders from a host of independent federal regulatory agencies, including at the National Transportation Safety Board, Surface Transportation Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as the Fed.

The Supreme Court declined to temporarily block the president from firing directors of some independent agencies earlier this year while those cases move through the courts. Legal experts say the high court this year has shown more deference to the president’s removal powers than it has in the past.

Still, in a case in May, the Supreme Court appeared to single out the Fed as deserving of greater independence than other agencies, describing it as “a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity.” As a result, it’s harder to gauge how the Supreme Court could rule if this case lands in its lap.

As a governor, Cook votes on all the Fed’s interest rate decisions and helps oversee bank regulation. The Fed has substantial power over the economy by raising or cutting its key interest rate, which can then influence a broad range of other borrowing costs, including mortgages, car loans, and business loans.

Bill Pulte, Trump’s appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, first leveled the accusation against Cook that she has committed mortgage fraud.

It’s a charge he has also made against two of Trump’s biggest political enemies, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has prosecuted Trump. Pulte has ignored a similar case involving Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general who is friendly with Trump and is running for Senate in his state’s Republican primary.

Cook’s lawsuit responds by arguing that the claims are just a pretext “in order to effectuate her prompt removal and vacate a seat for President Trump to fill and forward his agenda to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve.”

If Trump can replace Cook, he may be able to gain a 4-3 majority on the Fed’s governing board. Trump appointed two board members during his first term and has nominated a key White House economic adviser, Stephen Miran, to replace Adriana Kugler, another Fed governor who stepped down unexpectedly Aug. 1. Trump has said he will only appoint people to the Fed who will support lower rates.

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A visit by a pair of U.S. senators to Taiwan has drawn criticism from China, which claims the island as its own and objects to any contact between officials of the two sides.

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (Mississippi), third from right, and Deb Fischer (Nebraska), third from left pose for photos after arriving at Taipei Songshan Airport, on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer arrived in Taipei on Friday for a series of high-level meetings with senior Taiwan leaders to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, according to the American Institute in Taiwan, which acts as Washington’s de facto embassy in lieu of formal diplomatic relations with the self-governing island democracy.

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Upon arrival, Wicker said: “A thriving democracy is never fully assured … and we’re here to talk to our friends and allies in Taiwan about what we’re doing to enhance worldwide peace.”

“At a time of global unrest, it is extremely significant for us to be here,” Fischer added, noting that discussions would include “security, opportunities and progress for this part of the world.”

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun protested the visit, saying it “undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and sends a gravely wrong signal to the separatist Taiwan independence forces.”

The pair’s two-day visit to Taiwan follows stops in Hawaii, Guam, Tinian, Pala and the Philippines.

The U.S. is Taiwan’s largest supplier of arms. It provides the island with the latest generation tanks, air defense missiles and upgraded F-16 jet fighters as part of its guarantee of security against Beijing’s threat to invade.

China considers the American supply of arms to Taiwan a violation of commitments made to it by previous U.S. administrations.

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAM METZ and JULIA FRANKEL, Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel on Friday declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone and said it was in the ″initial stages″ of a planned offensive as grief spread over the return of two hostages’ bodies.

As the military announced the resumption of around-the-clock fighting, aid groups and a church sheltering people said they would stay, refusing to abandon the hungry and displaced who depend on them.

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The shift comes weeks after Israel first announced plans to widen its offensive in Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering and enduring famine.

The military said it suspended midday pauses to fighting, which had allowed food and aid supplies to enter from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., while also reporting it had recovered the bodies of two hostages and vowed its military offensive would return more.

Friday’s announcement marks the latest escalation after Israel has reported strikes in some of the city’s key neighborhoods and called up tens of thousands of reservists.

“We will intensify our strikes until we bring back all the kidnapped hostages and dismantle Hamas,” Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said.

Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, has for days urged Palestinians in Gaza City to flee south, calling the evacuation “inevitable,” even as aid groups warn of severe obstacles.

Some refuse to leave as Gaza City assault begins

The United Nations said Thursday that 23,000 people had evacuated over the past week, but many Palestinians in Gaza City have said they are exhausted after multiple displacements and questioned leaving when there is nowhere safe and any journey is costly.

The Holy Family Church of Gaza City told The Associated Press on Friday that the roughly 440 people sheltering there would remain along with members of the clergy who would assist them.

Farid Jubran said the church had left the decision up to the people even though they had few recourse to insulate themselves from fighting.

“When we feel danger, people get closer to the walls or whatever, it’s more protected,” he said, noting the church had few specific defenses.

The UN’s humanitarian agency said its staff and NGOs also would remain on the ground.

The group said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” by the military’s announcement and predicted the offensive would have a “horrific impact on people already exhausted, malnourished, bereaved, displaced, and deprived of basics needed for survival.”

‘Initial stages’ of Gaza City offensive begin

Israel introduced “tactical pauses” in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi last month as it faced global condemnation over the humanitarian conditions in the besieged strip. As it suspended them on Friday in Gaza City, the military did not say whether they had notified residents or aid groups of the impending declaration ahead of the 11:30 a.m. announcement.

Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid packages from the United Arab Emirates, airdropped by parachutes into Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Norwegian Refugee Council, which coordinates a coalition of aid groups active in Gaza, said it had not received notification that Israel’s “tactical pauses” would be suspended.

Israel has in the past called Gaza City a Hamas stronghold, with a network of tunnels that remain in use by militants after several previous large-scale raids.

The city also is home to some of the territory’s critical infrastructure and health facilities. The United Nations said Thursday the besieged strip could lose half of its hospital bed capacity if Israel invades as planned.

The suspension of the pause also comes one week after the world’s leading food security authority declared Gaza City was being gripped by famine after months of warnings.

Bodies of hostages recovered

Israel on Friday said its military had recovered the bodies of two hostages, including an Israeli man who was killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that sparked the war.

The bodies of Ilan Weiss of Kibbutz Be’eri and another unnamed hostage were returned to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

“The campaign to return the hostages continues continuously. We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our hostages home — both the living and the dead,” Netanyahu said.

Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas almost 22 months ago, roughly 50 remain in Gaza including 20 that Israel believes to be alive.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has organized large-scale protests demanding a ceasefire to return the hostages, mourned the losses and said Israeli leaders should prioritize a deal to return both the living and the dead.

“We call on the Israeli government to enter negotiations and stay at the table until every last hostage comes home. Time is running out for the hostages. Time is running out for the people of Israel who carry this burden,” it said in a statement.

Metz and Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.

Today is Friday, Aug. 29, the 241st day of 2025. There are 124 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 29, 2004, marathoner Vanderlei de Lima was attacked by a spectator during the running of the Olympic marathon in Athens; de Lima, who was leading the race at the time, eventually finished third and received the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship in addition to his bronze medal.

Also on this date:

In 1814, during the War of 1812, Alexandria, Virginia, formally surrendered to British military forces, which occupied the city until September 3.

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In 1825, the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro was signed by Portugal and Brazil, officially ending the Brazilian War of Independence.

In 1862, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing began operations at the United States Treasury.

In 1944, 15,000 American troops of the 28th Infantry Division marched down the Champs-Élysées in Paris as the French capital continued to celebrate its liberation from the Nazis.

In 1958, the U.S. Air Force Academy opened in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In 1966, the Beatles concluded their fourth American tour with their last public concert, held at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in southeast Louisiana, breaching levees and spurring floods that devastated New Orleans. Katrina caused nearly 1,400 deaths and an estimated $200 billion in damage.

In 2008, Republican presidential nominee John McCain picked Sarah Palin, a maverick conservative who had been governor of Alaska for less than two years, to be his running mate.

In 2013, in a sweeping new policy statement, the Justice Department said it would not stand in the way of states that wanted to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana as long as there were effective controls to keep marijuana away from children, the black market and federal property.

In 2021, Hurricane Ida blasted ashore in Louisiana as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S., knocking out power to all of New Orleans, blowing roofs off buildings and briefly reversing the flow of the Mississippi River.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Elliott Gould is 87.
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is 87.
Olympic gold medal sprinter Wyomia Tyus is 80.
Olympic gold medal long jumper Bob Beamon is 79.
Animal behaviorist and autism educator Temple Grandin is 78.
Dancer-choreographer Mark Morris is 69.
Actor Rebecca De Mornay is 66.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is 58.
Singer Me’Shell NdegeOcello (n-DAY’-gay-OH’-chehl-oh) is 57.
Actor Carla Gugino is 54.
Actor-singer Lea Michele is 39.
MLB pitcher Noah Syndergaard (SIHN’-dur-gahrd) is 33.