Trump asks US Supreme Court to permit firing of the Fed’s Lisa Cook

Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, left, administers the oath of office to Lisa Cook, right, to serve as a member of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve System during a ceremony at the William McChesney Martin Jr. Building of the Federal Reserve May 23, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling and allow the president to fire Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in a 41-page appeal that a district court blocking President Donald Trump’s efforts to remove Cook “involves yet another case of improper judicial interference with the President’s removal authority—here, interference with the President’s authority to remove members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for cause.”

Trump has had an ongoing dispute with the independent Federal Reserve Board for months, repeatedly calling on them to lower interest rates, which they did on Wednesday. 

Trump said in late August that he wanted to remove Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, alleging she falsified some information in a mortgage application. 

Cook’s attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court a few days later, arguing that Trump’s attempts were political and violated her due process rights. 

U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb granted a preliminary injunction in early September, writing the case marks the first time in the Federal Reserve’s 111-year history that a president has sought to remove one of its members “for cause.”

The Federal Reserve Act doesn’t actually define what “for cause” entails, but Cobb wrote that reasons for firing under the law “are limited to grounds concerning an official’s behavior in office and whether they have been faithfully and effectively executing statutory duties. 

“The ‘for cause’ standard thus does not contemplate removing an individual purely for conduct that occurred before they assumed the position.”

The Trump administration appealed that ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

A three-judge panel from that court earlier this week rejected the Trump administration’s request to overturn the district court’s preliminary injunction while the case proceeds.

The 2-1 ruling split Judge Gregory G. Katsas, whom Trump nominated during his first term, and Judges J. Michelle Childs and Bradley N. Garcia, both nominated by former President Joe Biden.

Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report.