Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to fire US Fed governor
The US Supreme Court did not allow Donald Trump to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, determined to preserve the central bank’s cherished independence against an unprecedented challenge from the Republican president.
With its 5-4 decision on Monday, the court blocked Trump’s dismissal of Cook for now and provided protection, especially for the Fed.
But in another ruling involving Trump’s “removal of a member of the Federal Trade Commission,” the court expanded presidential power to remove leaders of other U.S. agencies, overturning a precedent dating back to 1935 in the process.
No president has tried to remove a Fed governor since the central bank’s founding in 1913.
In his second term as president, Trump has tested the limits of presidential power in many other ways.
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the decision, said Trump “failed to provide Cook with the procedural protections to which he was entitled by law. Without such protections, he could not properly challenge the president’s charges against him.”
In August, Trump cited unproven allegations of mortgage fraud as he sought to oust Cook, the first black woman to serve as Fed governor. Cook denied the allegations and said they were an excuse to fire him over monetary policy differences.
Roberts and fellow conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court’s three liberal justices in the decision. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett dissented.
The decision certainly protects Fed officials from being fired at the request of a president.
Examining the history of the Federal Reserve System and its predecessor central banks since their founding, including the Bank of North America and the First and Second Banks of the United States, Roberts emphasized that they all had the distinction of being independent from the president to protect monetary policy from political interference.
“Like the previous three presidents, chairmen of the Federal Reserve do not serve at the whim of the president; instead, they have staggered 14-year terms and can only be removed ‘for cause,’” Roberts said.
“We see no reason to leave the public in limbo or cast doubt on the status of one of our nation’s (and the world’s) most important financial institutions,” Roberts added.
Cook welcomed the court’s decision, saying it confirmed the Fed’s obligation to make policy decisions independently, free from political interference.
“This was never about mortgage documents signed years before I became Federal Reserve governor. This was an attempt to remove me under a fabricated pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure and continued to set interest rates solely on what would best serve the American people,” Cook said.
Trump reacted to the decision with a social media post.
“The Cook Case, concerning his eligibility to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, was remanded by the Supreme Court on a strict procedural basis; we will take immediate steps to ensure that someone who has committed wrongdoing will not be able to make vital decisions regarding the Welfare of the United States!” Trump wrote.
Trump’s targeting of Cook and a separate criminal investigation that his administration launched in January but later launched against Fed Chairman Jerome Powell represented the biggest challenge to the central bank’s independence.
In a separate 6-3 decision by conservative justices, the Supreme Court backed Trump’s firing of Democratic Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter. Trump called this decision “one of the most important decisions ever made in terms of Presidential Powers.”
The Fed is the world’s most important central bank, an institution that sets the cost of credit for the United States and beyond and has been in Trump’s crosshairs since he returned to the presidency in January 2025.
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