Trump petitions Supreme Court for authorization to dismiss Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from her position
Trump Administration Petitions Supreme Court to Remove Federal Reserve Governor
In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order to remove Lisa Cook, a sitting member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, appointed by President Joe Biden. This request threatens the central bank's independence, established since its creation in 1913.
The administration's petition follows allegations of mortgage fraud against Cook. According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, Cook specified her Atlanta condo as a "vacation home" in a loan estimate in May 2021 and described it as a "2nd home" in a security clearance form. These details appear to undercut the Trump administration's claims of fraud.
Trump's lawyers argue that Cook's alleged actions before her time as governor "indisputably call into question Cook's trustworthiness and whether she can be a responsible steward of the interest rates and economy." However, Cook has stated that she won't leave her post and won't be "bullied" by Trump.
The White House campaign to unseat Cook marks an unprecedented bid to reshape the Fed board, which was designed to be largely independent from day-to-day politics. No president has ever fired a sitting Fed governor in the agency's 112-year history.
Earlier attempts to remove Cook were legally blocked by courts. By a 2-1 vote, a panel of the federal appeals court in Washington rejected the administration's request to let Cook's firing proceed. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb ruled that the administration had not satisfied the legal requirement that Fed governors can only be fired "for cause," and that Trump's firing of Cook would have deprived her of her due process.
In its new filing to the Supreme Court, the administration argues that Trump may reasonably determine that interest rates paid by the American people should not be set by a governor who appears to have lied about facts material to the interest rates she secured for herself. However, the Supreme Court has distinguished the Federal Reserve from other independent federal agencies, strongly suggesting that Trump can't act against Fed governors without cause.
Meanwhile, Cook and the administration's nominee, Stephen Miran, took part in a vote in which the Fed cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point. The next opportunity for Cook to cast a vote will be at the meeting of the Fed's interest rate setting committee, scheduled for Oct. 28-29.
This development comes as Trump has previously won orders from the court's conservative majority to fire the presidentially appointed leaders of other independent federal agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Federal Trade Commission. The future of Cook's tenure at the Federal Reserve remains uncertain as the Supreme Court considers the administration's petition.
Read also:
- United States tariffs pose a threat to India, necessitating the recruitment of adept negotiators or strategists, similar to those who had influenced Trump's decisions.
- Weekly happenings in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Southwest region's most popular posts, accompanied by an inquiry:
- Discussion between Putin and Trump in Alaska could potentially overshadow Ukraine's concerns
