Powell will attend Supreme Court arguments on firing fed official

CAROLINE GUTMAN/THE NEW YORK TIMES / 2025

Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, speaks to reporters in Washington. The Supreme Court’s review this week of President Trump’s attempt to fire a member of the Federal Reserve was always going to pose a key test of how much leeway the justices would give the president to remake and control the central bank — then the Justice Department issued subpoenas this month as part of a criminal investigation into the Fed chair.

Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, will attend the oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday over whether President Donald Trump has the authority to remove Lisa Cook, a governor at the central bank, according to a person familiar with Powell’s plans.

The stakes of the case are enormous for the independence of the Fed. If the justices rule against Cook, Trump and future presidents will have significantly more leeway to oust officials at the Fed at will. Cook, who will also attend the arguments Wednesday, has been accused by the administration of mortgage fraud, which officials cited as “cause” to fire her.

Cook, who has been a Fed governor since 2022, sued after Trump tried to oust her in August, arguing that the law that established the Fed allowed presidents to dismiss members only “for cause.”

Cook, who has not been charged with wrongdoing, denies the allegations of mortgage fraud, which relate to loan documents she signed before joining the Fed. The Supreme Court ruled in October that she could stay in her post while her lawsuit played out.

Powell will attend the arguments on the heels of his own confrontation with the administration, which he directly called out in an extraordinary video message last week after the Justice Department sent the central bank grand jury subpoenas seeking information about a $2.5 billion renovation project of the Fed’s headquarters in Washington.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President,” Powell said.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2026 The New York Times Company

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