Conservative and liberal US Supreme Court justices signalled scepticism yesterday towards President Donald Trump’s bid to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook in a case with the central bank’s independence at stake.
During about two hours of arguments in the case, the justices indicated they were unlikely to grant the Trump administration’s request to lift a judge’s decision barring the Republican president from immediately firing Cook while her legal challenge continues to play out.
Some of the justices pressed D John Sauer, the US solicitor general arguing for Trump’s administration, about why Cook was not given a chance to formally respond to the unproven mortgage fraud allegations – which she has denied – that the president cited as justification to oust Cook.
They also raised concerns about the effect on the economy of such a first-ever presidential firing from the central bank and the implications for the Fed’s cherished independence from political influence.
The case represents the latest dispute to come to the top US judicial body involving Trump’s expansive view of presidential powers since returning to office 12 months ago.
When the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, agreed in October to hear the case, they left Cook in her job for the time being.
“This case is about whether the Federal Reserve will set key interest rates guided by evidence and independent judgment or will succumb to political pressure,” Cook, who attended the arguments, said in a statement afterward.
“For as long as I serve at the Federal Reserve, I will uphold the principle of political independence in service to the American people,” Cook added.
Sauer told the justices that the allegations against Cook impugn her “conduct, fitness, ability or competence to serve as a governor of the Federal Reserve.”
“The American people should not have their interest rates determined by someone who was, at best, grossly negligent in obtaining favourable interest rates for herself,” Sauer said.
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