WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to allow President Donald Trump to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook after two federal courts blocked her removal, a development that underscores a legal clash over presidential authority and the central bank’s independence. In a petition to the justices, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the lower-court rulings blocking Cook’s ouster amounted to improper judicial interference and that the government is likely to succeed on the merits because Cook lacks a Fifth Amendment property interest in her continued service as a Federal Reserve governor.
Cook, a Biden appointee, was the subject of a firing attempt last month after Trump cited allegations of mortgage fraud tied to applications for her personal homes. Under the Federal Reserve Act, Fed governors can be fired for cause. Cook has argued that her paperwork errors did not meet the statutory standard. A federal judge temporarily blocked the firing while litigation proceeds, and a divided D.C. Circuit panel on appeal upheld that block last week, prompting the Thursday Supreme Court petition. Sauer’s filing characterized the allegations as calling into question the appearance of mortgage fraud by someone whose job is to set interest rates that affect Americans’ mortgages, a matter the government says satisfies any conception of cause.
Cook participated in the Fed’s Wednesday decision to cut the central bank’s benchmark rate by 25 basis points, the first such reduction since December. The vote split among governors, with new appointee Stephen Miran the lone dissenter who preferred a 50-basis-point cut. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has defended the central bank’s caution, noting uncertainty about inflation and the potential pass-through of tariffs to prices, a stance that has limited aggressive rate reductions as the administration seeks to refinance a large portion of the national debt.
Trump’s push to remove Cook comes as he has pressed the Fed to lower rates in pursuit of refinancing the nation’s debt. The administration’s legal filing urges the Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court ruling and restore the president’s removal authority for official personnel at the Fed. The case tests whether a sitting Fed governor can be removed for alleged misconduct or other reasons deemed “cause” or whether due process requirements and the absence of an explicit Fifth Amendment property interest shield the office from removal when not charged with a crime.
Legal experts say the dispute could have broader implications for the balance of power between the White House and an independent central bank. The Supreme Court has previously sided with the administration on several high-profile matters in Trump’s second term, but the Cook case asks the justices to weigh presidential removal power in a way that could affect future governance of the Federal Reserve. The legal battle underscores a broader political fight over inflation, interest rates, and the authority to appoint or remove key regulatory figures.
