Supreme Court blocks Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied President Donald Trump’s effort to immediately remove Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, ruling that the president did not follow statutory procedural protections. In a 5-4 decision, the justices said the administration failed to afford Cook the due-process rights required by law, preventing her from properly contesting the charges.

Cook, a 2024 appointee of President Joe Biden whose term runs until 2038, is the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s board of governors. She had sued the administration after Trump announced on social media that she was being fired over alleged mortgage-fraud violations, which she denied.

"The court decides this application on the narrow ground that the president failed to afford Cook the procedural protections to which she was entitled by statute," the opinion stated.

The ruling marks a departure from recent decisions that have upheld broad presidential powers in other agency removals, such as the dismissal of an FTC commissioner and a member of the NLRB. The court also limited lower courts’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions and paused a ruling on ICE’s use of race-based suspicion.

Legal analysts noted that the decision reinforces the long-standing principle of Federal Reserve independence, a cornerstone of U.S. monetary policy. The Fed, created in 1913, operates with significant autonomy despite being housed within the executive branch, a structure intended to keep monetary decisions insulated from political pressure.