President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, setting the stage for key decision regarding the president’s authority over the central bank.
Trump filed a petition to the Supreme Court’s emergency docket on Thursday asking that the high court to decide whether he has the authority to fire Cook for cause. If he succeeds, it would be the first time a president fired a Fed governor.
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Cook, 61, stands accused by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte of mortgage fraud, which led Trump to attempt to fire her. But Cook successfully sued for a temporary restraining order blocking the move.
In the filing, Trump’s lawyers said that that the Fed plays a “uniquely important” role in the economy and that it heightens the government and public interest “in ensuring that an ethically compromised member does not continue wielding its vast powers.”
“Put simply, the President 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 — and refuses to explain the apparent misrepresentations,” the petition reads.
The case will be closely watched, given that the Fed, as a government entity that also has private-sector aspects, is unique in its independence from the White House.
While the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the president generally has the power to remove independent agency members, the conservative majority stipulated in that case that Fed board members can only be fired for cause.
The push to oust Cook began after Pulte, who oversees the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, sent a criminal referral to Attorney General Pam Bondi, claiming that Cook listed two homes, one in Michigan and one in Georgia, concurrently as her primary residence months before she was nominated to the Fed board.
The filing comes a day after the Fed cut interest rates for the first time this year.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell declined to comment on the matter during a press conference on Wednesday.
When asked whether he sees the Cook case as related to questions about Fed independence, Powell said he sees it “as a court case that it would be inappropriate for me to come comment on.”