WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) – The United States Supreme Court rejected this Monday President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Director Lisa Cook, standing firm in defending the central bank’s independence in the face of an unprecedented challenge from the Republican.
The court, in a 5-4 ruling, blocked Trump’s attempt to become the first president to remove a Fed member since Congress created the central bank in 1913. In his second term as president, Trump has also tested the limits of presidential power in countless other ways.
The decision follows the Feb. 20 ruling by the justices in another case with major economic ramifications that overturned most of Trump’s global tariffs, a ruling that provoked sharp criticism of the Court from the president.
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Last August, Trump cited unproven allegations of mortgage fraud when trying to remove Cook, the first black woman to serve as Fed director, while he considered it a pretext to remove her due to disagreements over monetary policy.
The justices denied a request from Trump’s Justice Department to revoke a district judge’s order preventing him from immediately firing Cook while her lawsuit against his firing remained ongoing. Cook denied Trump’s allegations.
Cook’s term in office runs until 2038. She was nominated by former Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022.
Trump’s attacks on Cook and a separate criminal investigation that his administration launched in January but later dropped against then-Fed Chair Jerome Powell together represented the biggest challenge to the central bank’s independence since its founding.
May 15 was the last of Powell’s eight years as Fed chairman, although he remains a member of the board. The US Senate voted on May 13 to confirm Trump nominee Kevin Warsh as Powell’s successor, and he took office on May 22.
