WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates.

The request represents an extraordinary effort by the White House to shape the board before the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee meets next Tuesday and Wednesday. At the same time, Senate Republicans are pushing to confirm Stephen MiranPresident Donald Trump’s nominee to an open spot on the Fed’s board, which could happen as soon as Monday.

Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board. Trump has accused Cook of mortgage fraud because she appeared to claim two properties as “primary residences” in July 2021, before she joined the board. Such claims can lead to a lower mortgage rate and smaller down payment than if one of them was declared as a rental property or second home. Cook has denied the charges.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb ruled that the administration had not satisfied a legal requirement that Fed governors can only be fired “for cause,” which she said was limited to misconduct while in office. Cook did not join the Fed’s board until 2022.

In their emergency appeal, Trump’s lawyers argued that even if the conduct occurred before her time as governor, her alleged action “indisputably calls into question Cook’s trustworthiness and whether she can be a responsible steward of the interest rates and economy.”

The administration asked an appeals court to issue an emergency decision reversing the lower court by Monday. If their appeal is succesful, Cook would be removed from the Fed’s board until her case is ultimately resolved in the courts, and she would miss next week’s meeting.

If the appeals court rules in Cook’s favor, the administration could seek an emergency ruling from the Supreme Court.

Either way, the Fed is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate next week by a quarter-point to about 4.1%. When the Fed reduces its key rate, it often, over time, lowers borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and business loans. Some of those rates have already fallen in anticipation of cuts from the Fed.

Should Miran, a top economic adviser to Trumpwin approval in time to join the Fed next week, he could push for a steeper half-point reduction to the Fed’s rate.

Yet there are 12 officials who vote on whether and by how much to cut, including the seven members of the Fed’s board as well as five of the Fed’s 12 regional bank presidents, who vote on a rotating basis.

Trump’s two other appointees to the Fed — Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman — might also support a half-point cut, but several of the Fed’s bank presidents have expressed concern about stubbornly elevated inflation and would almost certainly oppose such a large reduction.

If the Fed approves a quarter-point cut, it is possible there could be dissenting votes both from officials who preferred no cut and from those who support a half-point.

OREM, Utah (AP) — The shooter who assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk and then vanished off a roof and into the woods remained at large more than 24 hours later Thursday as federal investigators appealed for the public’s help by releasing photos of the person they believe is responsible.

Investigators obtained clues, including a palm print, a shoe impression and a high-powered hunting rifle found in a wooded area along the path the shooter fled. But they had yet to name a suspect or cite a motive in the killing they were treating as the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States across the ideological spectrum.

The photos of a person in a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt, with a backpack, as well as a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest suggested that law enforcement thought tips from the public might be needed to crack the case. Two people who were taken into custody shortly after Wednesday’s shooting at Utah Valley University were later released, forcing officials to chase new leads on a separate person of interest they pursued Thursday.

During a news conference Thursday with FBI Director Kash Patel, authorities showed a video of a person being sought in connection with the killing racing across the roof of the building where the shot was fired, dropping down to the ground and fleeing into the woods. In the process, officials say, the shooter left behind imprints, including a palm print, that investigators hope can yield clues to their identity.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox pleaded for the public’s help in the search for the shooter.

“We have people all over the country trying to bring this perpetrator to justice,” he said, adding that the FBI had received more than 7,000 leads and tips.

He said they’re getting everything in order to pursue the death penalty.

The direct appeals for public support at the nighttime news conference, including new and enhanced photos, appeared to signal law enforcement’s continued struggles a day and a half into the search to identify the shooter and pinpoint the person’s whereabouts.

Authorities didn’t take questions, and Patel did not speak at the news conference.

One clue in the investigation was a Mauser .30-caliber, bolt-action rifle found in a towel in the woods. A spent cartridge was recovered from the chamber, and three other rounds were loaded in the magazine, according to information circulated among law enforcement and described to The Associated Press. The weapon and ammunition were being analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab.

Grisly video shared online

The attack, carried out in a broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues from a university courtyard, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.

The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.

The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a “college-age” appearance, fired a single shot from the rooftop where they were perched before jumping off.

“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.

Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violencesaid he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, arrived Thursday afternoon in Salt Lake City to visit with Kirk’s family. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and the 2024 election.

“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”

Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reporters he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral. Details have not been announced.

Kirk was taking questions about gun violence

Kirk was a conservative provocateur who became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.

He was shot while attending one such event Wednesday, a debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus in what was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”

The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”

Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting, as he was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence when the shot was heard.

Attendees barricaded themselves in classrooms

Some attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.

Madison Lattin was watching a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she heard the bullet hit him.

“Blood is falling and dripping down, and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.

On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events “PROVE ME WRONG” stood, disheveled.

Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.

“With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.

Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded dur ing a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.

“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.

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Tucker and Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver; Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst and Michelle L. Price in Washington; Ty O’Neil in Orem, Utah; Hallie Golden in Seattle; and Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged Thursday with inflation back under control and the economy weathering Trump’s tariff onslaught better than expected.

The bank’s rate-setting council left its benchmark deposit rate unchanged at 2% at a meeting at its skyscraper headquarters in Frankfurt.

The focus in Europe has shifted to the fiscal crisis in France and any possible role for the ECB in containing potential market turmoil that could erupt from the country’s out-of-control deficit and political logjam.

Bank President Christine Lagarde said after the rate decision that monetary policy was “in a good place” and that decisions are being made “meeting by meeting,” She gave no hint of future moves, saying the bank is “not on a predetermined path.”

The ECB is standing pat on interest rates even as the US Federal Reserve has held the door open for a possible cut at its Sept. 17 meeting.

The 20 countries that use the euro currency — and where the ECB sets rate policy — showed 0.1% growth in the second quarter over the quarter before, not great but not sliding into outright recession either despite the disruption from U.S. President Donald Trump’s new and higher tariffs. The S&P Global survey of purchasing managers, a key indicator of economic activity, came in at 51 in August, with readings over 50 indicating expansion.

The EU’s executive commission calmed the mood somewhat by negotiating a 15% ceiling on US tariffsor import taxes, on European goods brought into the US. While that’s far higher than pre-Trump tariff levels, Trump had threatened even higher rates and the deal gives some certainty that trade will continue, albeit with higher costs.

“Trade uncertainty has clearly diminished,” Lagarde said.

The ECB’s deposit rate influences borrowing costs throughout the economy. The ECB raised rates sharply to combat a burst of inflation in 2021-23, and has since lowered them as inflation came back under control and concerns grew about growth. Higher rates fight inflation but can slow growth, while lower rates can stimulate economic activity by making borrowing cheaper for purchases.

Eurozone inflation was 2.1% in August, roughly in line with the bank’s target of 2%. With growth holding up, that means there was no great pressure to move rates Thursday. Analysts think another cut is possible in coming months.

Lagarde was asked several times about the French government’s fiscal crisis. The French government’s bond-market borrowing costs have risen somewhat due to the inability of a divided parliament to tackle the large deficit, which was 5.8% of GDP last year. In case of a full-blown market panic that sends rates higher, the ECB could intervene to purchase French bonds and drive down borrowing costs. But that’s only possible for countries that are obeying the EU’s rules on limiting debt or are moving to comply, which France at this point is not.

Lagarde said the ECB’s emergency bond market backstop, dubbed the transmission protection instrument, was not discussed at the meeting and that the broader European bond market was functioning normally.

“I’m not commenting on any particular country, but suffice to say that we always monitor market developments and euro area sovereign bonds are orderly and are functioning smoothly with good liquidity,” she said.

Analysts say the challenge for Lagarde is to avoid suggesting the ECB would bail out politicians who won’t manage the government’s finances properly, while not taking such a hard line that she unsettles bond markets.