Supreme Court allows Lisa Cook to remain Fed governor for now
The Supreme Court has allowed Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to remain in her position temporarily while scheduling a hearing for January to consider President Donald Trump’s attempt to remove her from office. The Trump management had requested immediate permission from the Court to fire cook during ongoing lower court litigation, but the justices declined to decide until they conduct full oral arguments early next year. This decision gives Cook an interim victory, enabling her to continue her role for now, unlike other independent agency heads whom the Court has allowed to be removed pending litigation.
The case stems from allegations of mortgage fraud against Cook made by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Director, which Trump cited as cause for her removal. Cook contested the firing in federal court and secured a temporary injunction reinstating her. The Supreme Court will examine whether the reasons cited justify her removal.
this hearing is part of a broader set of disputes involving the Trump administration challenging the removal protections of independent agency officials. In a related case, the Court plans to hear in December arguments about the president’s ability to fire an FTC commissioner without cause. the January hearing involving Cook marks the beginning of the Court’s 2026 term, during which several high-profile Trump-related cases are expected to be adjudicated.
Supreme Court allows Lisa Cook to remain at Federal Reserve while scheduling hearing for January
The Supreme Court will allow Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to remain in her position for now, while scheduling oral arguments in President Donald Trump‘s bid to fire her for January.
The Trump administration asked the high court to allow Cook to be fired while the case proceeds in lower courts, but instead, the justices, in an unsigned order on Wednesday, said they will hold off on weighing the petition until they have held full oral arguments on the matter early next year. The short order on Wednesday did not elaborate on the reasoning but ordered the court’s clerk to establish a briefing schedule.
The Supreme Court’s order means Cook has earned an interim victory and will continue, for now, in her role as Federal Reserve governor, unlike other independent agency heads who the court has allowed to be fired while litigation proceeds.
The justices received a trio of cases on the emergency docket in recent months from the Trump administration seeking the interim removal of independent agency heads pending litigation, and the justices have granted the stay in all three instances, with the high court electing to take the third case for oral arguments in December. The Supreme Court has made a distinction between independent agencies and the Federal Reserve with regard to firing agency heads without cause, however, noting in a previous order that the Fed is “a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States.”
The December arguments in Trump v. Slaughter will center on the case of the president firing FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter without cause and whether he can lawfully do so, while the Lisa Cook case, now set for January, will look at whether the cause cited by the Trump administration is sufficient to remove Cook from her position.
Cook has been accused by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte of mortgage fraud, which Trump cited as cause to fire her. She challenged Trump’s firing in federal court, winning an injunction reinstating her temporarily, which will now hold at least through the oral arguments before the Supreme Court in January.
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The case marks the first oral arguments slated for January 2026 in the court’s upcoming term, which begins Monday with a pair of oral arguments and is expected to conclude with the final set of rulings issued in late June 2026.
The Trump administration, which has dominated the high court’s emergency docket since returning to office earlier this year, will have multiple cases on the Supreme Court’s merits docket for the term, including one regarding Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, along with the Slaughter and Cook cases. The administration asked the high court late last week to consider taking up its appeal of its birthright citizenship order, which could be another consequential Trump case the justices hear.
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