Supreme Court lets Lisa Cook remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now

Justices will hear arguments in January over Trump’s effort to remove Cook from the Fed

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now, declining to act on the Trump administration’s effort to immediately remove her from the central bank.

In a brief unsigned order, the high court said it would hear arguments in January over Republican President Donald Trump’s effort to force Cook off the Fed board.

The court will consider whether to block a lower-court ruling in Cook’s favor while her challenge to her firing by Trump continues.

Separately, the justices are hearing arguments in December in a separate but related legal fight over Trump’s actions to fire members of the boards that oversee other independent federal agencies. The case concerns whether Trump can fire those officials at will.

But a second issue in the case could bear directly on Cook’s fate: whether federal judges have the authority to prevent the firings or instead may only order back pay for officials who were wrongly dismissed.

Cook was appointed to her job by Democratic President Joe Biden.