A bipartisan group of former top US economic officials has urged the Supreme Court to prevent President Trump from firing Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook, arguing that her sudden removal could undermine the central bank's independence and shake confidence in the economy. The coalition includes ex-Fed chairs Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, as well as former Treasury secretaries from both Democratic and Republican administrations, such as Janet Yellen, Timothy Geithner, and Henry Paulson, the New York Times reports. Every living former member chair of the board signed onto the brief, per CNN.
In the filing, the group argued that allowing the president to dismiss Cook now, before her lawsuit fighting her firing is resolved, would undermine the Federal Reserve's independence and weaken confidence in US monetary policy. The brief states that Congress specifically designed protections to shield the central bank from political influence, and that removing Cook would jeopardize those safeguards. The Supreme Court is considering an emergency request from the Trump administration to remove Cook, whom President Biden appointed. The administration claims the president has authority to fire Fed governors for cause, citing allegations of mortgage fraud by Cook in documents signed before her 2022 appointment.
Cook has not been charged with any crime. Lower courts previously denied the administration's bid to remove her immediately. Chief Justice John Roberts has directed Cook to respond to the administration's request by Thursday afternoon. In a separate filing with the Supreme Court on Thursday, lawyers for Cook warned that blocking the lower-court ruling and allowing Cook's removal "would signal to the financial markets that the Federal Reserve no longer enjoys its traditional independence, risking chaos and disruption," per the AP. No president has fired a sitting Fed governor in the agency's 112-year history.
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