Supreme Court Appears Inclined To Let Lisa Cook Keep Her Job

Another day, another misguided legal effort by the Trump administration that appears to be failing. President Donald Trump turned many heads when he attempted to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over unsubstantiated claims of mortgage fraud last fall. After several lower courts ruled in Cook’s favor, Trump turned to the Supreme Court in the hope that it would allow the firing to proceed. Despite having a conservative supermajority, it appears the Supreme Court is leaning toward allowing Lisa Cook to keep her job. 

According to CBS News, the Supreme Court heard arguments from lawyers representing the Trump administration on Wednesday. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that “deceit or gross negligence” was cause enough to fire Lisa Cook. 

While the Fed generally operates independently from the executive branch, the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 does allow the president to fire a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors “for cause.” Until Trump’s attempted firing of Lisa Cook, no sitting president has ever tried to fire a member of the Fed in the central bank’s 112-year history. In a letter to Cook, Trump said he had “sufficient cause” to fire her for “deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter.”

“The American people should not have their interest rates determined by someone who is at best grossly negligent,” Sauer argued. Bro, the country is being run by a man who is, at best, grossly negligent. What are we even talking about right now?

Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed out that Lisa Cook has not been found guilty of mortgage fraud in a court of law, or even indicted on criminal charges, making Sauer’s argument flimsy to say the least. It also doesn’t help that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has made similar mortgage claims to the ones Trump wants to fire Cook over, but he’s not facing the same level of scrutiny from the president. 

“Your position that there’s no judicial review, no process required, no remedy available, very low bar for cause that the president alone determines — that would weaken if not shatter the independence of the Federal Reserve,” Kavanaugh said.

Kavanaugh also pointed out that, should the Supreme Court rule in favor of Trump, it would set a precedent that could allow a Democrat president to remove all Trump appointees from the Fed over trivial matters. 

“It incentivizes a president to come up with what, as the Federal Reserve former governors say, trivial or inconsequential or old allegations that are very difficult to disprove. It incentivizes kind of the search-and-destroy and find something and just put that on a piece of paper,” he said. “No judicial review. No process, you’re done.”

Justice Amy Coney Barrett focused on the potential economic ramifications of Lisa Cook’s firing. Barrett cited predictions from several economists that firing Cook could lead to a recession. “How should we think about the public interest in a case like this?” she said, later adding that the risks to the economy may counsel caution by the Supreme Court.

Trump’s attacks on Lisa Cook fall in line with his persistent attacks on Black women in power. He made similar claims of mortgage fraud against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has won several cases against Trump. A judge dismissed the case against James, and a grand jury refused a second attempt by the Trump administration to indict her on mortgage fraud charges. 

It’s almost like pressing charges and trying to undermine the Fed’s independence without any tangible evidence of a crime was never going to work. Who would’ve guessed? 

SEE ALSO:

Treasury Secretary Made Same Mortgage Claims As Lisa Cook

Federal Judge Rules Lisa Cook Can Remain Federal Reserve Governor