Supreme Court appears ready to keep Lisa Cook on Federal Reserve board despite Trump efforts to fire her
The Supreme Court appeared poised to give President Donald Trump one of his biggest legal setbacks in office, offering strong support Wednesday for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook remaining in...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Supreme Court appeared poised to give President Donald Trump one of his biggest legal setbacks in office, offering strong support Wednesday for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook remaining in her leadership position -- at least for now. The justices debated in their packed courtroom whether Trump has broad unilateral executive authority to fire someone from the central bank, despite its special status as a stand-alone federal agency. During nearly two hours of oral arguments, a majority seemed to agree the Fed's unique public-private hybrid structure limited removal without clear "cause," and that Trump did not meet his legal obligations when seeking Cook's dismissal for alleged private mortgage fraud. REPUBLICAN SENATOR VOWS TO BLOCK TRUMP FED NOMINEE OVER POWELL INVESTIGATION The case comes before the Supreme Court on an emergency basis -- with the government seeking to dismiss Cook now, for as long as the courts decide the matter, a process that could last months. The justices could decide the larger constitutional questions now or give the lower federal courts a chance for a full examination of the facts, with some guidance from the high court on the standards of "for cause" removal. In arguments, most on the court seemed skeptical of Trump's actions. "That's your position that there's no judicial review, no process required, no remedy available?" Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked Solicitor General D. John Sauer. "Very low bar for cause that the president alone determines. And that would weaken, if not shatter, the independence of the Federal Reserve." "Let's talk about the real-world downstream effects of this. Because if this were set as a precedent, it seems to me just thinking big picture, what goes around, comes around," added Kavanaugh, who has typically been an ardent defender of executive power. "All the current president's appointees would likely be removed for cause on January 20th, 2029 -- if there's a Democratic president or January 20th, 2033. And…