Appeals court stops Trump's attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook
by Darryl Coote · UPISept. 15 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, handing the American president another legal defeat in his effort to gain influence over the independent monetary policy-setting agency.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a 2-1 emergency ruling Monday, ahead of the central bank's start of monetary policy meetings on Tuesday.
The Trump administration had asked the appeals court to allow the president to fire Cook, the first Black woman to sit on the Federal Reserve Board, ahead of the meeting, but the court rejected his request, finding the administration had denied her due process protections.
"The government does not dispute that it failed to provide Cook even minimal process -- that is, notice of the allegation against her and a meaningful opportunity to respond -- before she was purportedly removed," Judges Bradley Garcia and Michelle Childs, both President Joe Biden appointees, wrote in the ruling.
"Granting the government's request for relief when Cook has received no meaningful process would contravene that principle."
The president only has the power to remove someone from the independent bipartisan monetary-setting agency for cause.
Trump moved to fire Cook late last month on allegations of mortgage fraud, prompting Democrats to accuse the president of conducting a power grab.
Cook challenged her removal in court, and won reinstatement. The district found that her firing likely violated the so-called for cause provision of the Federal Reserve Act and the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause.
The appeals court majority on Monday agreed with the district court, stating its ruling "is correct."
"Cook has been serving in her position continuously despite the President's purported termination. Granting the government's request for emergency relief would thus upend, not preserve, the status quo," the court ruled.
"Given these unique circumstances, and Cook's strong likelihood of success on at least her due process claim, the government's request for relief is rightly denied."
In dissent, Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee, sided with the president, saying it was likely to prevail on its claims that it has cause for Cook's removal.
Trump fired Cook as he was applying pressure on her boss, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, to lower interest rates, which he has been seeking for months.
Twice since Aug. 15, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, a Powell critic, sent criminal referrals for Cook to Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing Cook of mortgage fraud, alleging she listed properties she owns inconsistently on different forms. The allegations go back to before she was on the board.
No charges have actually been filed.
Trump points to the mortgage fraud allegations as cause for her removal. Democrats have backed Cook in the fight. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has been among the most vocal and has described Trump's attempt to remove Cook an "illegal authoritarian power grab."
"The courts keep rejecting Donald Trump's illegal attempt to take over the Fed so he can scapegoat away his failure to lower costs for American families," Warren said Monday night on X following the ruling.
"If the courts -- including the Supreme Court -- continue to uphold the law, Lisa Cook will keep her seat as a Fed governor."
The ruling comes as Senate Republicans on Monday voted to confirm White House economic adviser Stephen Miran to join the Federal Reserve Board, despite Democrats voicing criticism over a White House advisor being a part of the independent agency.