The Trump administration today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the president’s decision to remove Governor Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve board, arguing that lower court rulings blocking the termination involve “yet another case of improper judicial interference with the president’s removal authority.”
Trump last month announced he was removing Cook after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte alleged that she made false statements on mortgage agreements. Cook filed a lawsuit against the administration in U.S. District Court for D.C., arguing that federal law allows the president to remove Fed governors only “for cause,” and that the claims made against her have not been investigated or proven.
A U.S. district court last week granted a temporary restraining order preventing Cook’s removal while it considers the case. The administration appealed the ruling, but in a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. ruled that given the unique circumstances of the case, and Cook’s “strong likelihood” of success on her claim that she was denied due process, it would not overturn the lower court decision.
The administration is requesting the Supreme Court stay the preliminary injunction. Among other things, it argues that Cook was not deprived of the Fifth Amendment’s right to due process as the amendment only concerns deprivations of life, liberty or property, and Cook “was deprived of none of these.”
