President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow him to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook as she challenges his effort to oust her, drawing the justices into a high-stakes dispute over the central bank’s independence.
The Justice Department on Thursday filed an emergency request seeking to pause a Washington federal judge’s order that has allowed Cook to remain in her post. Cook took part in the Fed’s policy meeting earlier this week under that ruling.
Trump announced in August that he was firing Cook after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte accused her of fraudulently listing properties in Michigan and Georgia as primary residences in 2021 to obtain better mortgage terms. Cook has denied the allegations and stayed on the job.
In Thursday’s application, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the lower court’s decision reflected “yet another case of improper judicial interference with the President’s removal authority.” He argued courts cannot review a president’s rationale for firing a Fed governor “for cause,” the standard under U.S. law.
Cook’s lawyers declined to comment.
A federal appeals court had already voted 2-1 to let Cook remain in place for now. That order didn’t address the substance of the mortgage-fraud claims or reports suggesting loan documents for her Georgia property contradict Pulte’s accusation by showing she described it as a vacation home.
With Cook present and voting with the majority, the Fed on Wednesday cut its benchmark rate by a quarter point to support a weakening labor market. Analysts had expected as many as four dissents, but only Stephen Miran — a Trump ally sworn in Tuesday — opposed the move, favoring a half-point cut.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, ruled on Sept. 9 that Cook was likely to prevail on her claim that Trump lacked legal “cause” to remove her and had violated her due-process rights by announcing her firing via social media without giving her a chance to respond. Cobb wrote that Congress intended “for cause” to relate to a governor’s conduct in office — inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance — not pre-appointment allegations.
The Justice Department appealed Cobb’s order to the D.C. Circuit and sought to remove Cook ahead of the Fed meeting, but a three-judge panel rejected the request on Sept. 15. The administration now wants the Supreme Court to step in.
Cook has argued the removal effort is politically motivated. Even government lawyers have agreed during the case that policy differences do not constitute “cause” under the law. Trump has repeatedly criticized the Fed and Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates more aggressively.
The case is Trump v. Cook, 25A312, U.S. Supreme Court.
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