US Supreme Court blocks Trump bid to remove Fed governor Lisa Cook

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to allow President Donald Trump to dismiss Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for now, preserving the central bank’s independence in a closely watched case even as the court separately widened presidential authority over other federal agencies.

In a 5-4 ruling, the court stopped Trump’s effort to remove Cook, offering specific protection to the Federal Reserve. According to the ruling by Chief Justice John Roberts, Trump had not followed the legal process required before taking such action.

Roberts wrote that Trump had "failed to afford Cook the procedural protections to which she was entitled by statute. Without such protections, she could not properly dispute the charges the president laid against her."

The case marked an unusual confrontation over the Fed’s autonomy. No US president since the central bank was established in 1913 had tried to remove a Federal Reserve governor. The issue arose after Trump, in August, sought to oust Cook by citing unproven allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook, the first black woman to serve as a Fed governor, rejected the accusations and said they were being used as a pretext linked to differences over monetary policy.

Separate ruling backs FTC dismissal

In a separate 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld Trump’s firing of Democratic Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter. That ruling, driven by the court’s conservative majority, expanded presidential power over agency leadership and overturned a precedent dating back to 1935.

The court reversed its earlier position in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, a landmark case that had blocked President Franklin Roosevelt from removing an FTC member over policy disagreements. Trump described Monday’s ruling on presidential powers as one of the most important ever issued on the subject.

The rulings came against the backdrop of a broader pattern in Trump’s second term, during which he has tested the limits of presidential authority in multiple areas. They also followed the Supreme Court’s Feb 20 decision in another economically significant case that struck down most of Trump’s sweeping global tariffs.

Cook is one of seven members of the Federal Reserve’s board and participates in setting monetary policy alongside the heads of the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks. The Fed, regarded as the world’s most important central bank, plays a central role in determining borrowing costs in the United States and beyond, and has remained a target of Trump’s criticism since his return to office last year.