{"id":2546666,"date":"2026-01-21T16:40:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T21:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-6\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:41:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T21:41:56","slug":"cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Cook&#8217;s Lawyer Admits Trump Can Fire His Client From The Fed"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-6%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2546666&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>At Wednesday&#8217;s Supreme Court oral arguments in Trump v. Cook, Lisa Cook&#8217;s attorney, Paul Clement, acknowledged that President Trump has the legal authority to remove members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. the case centers on the administration&#8217;s request to lift a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-administration-asks-supreme-court-to-allow-firing-of-ftc-member-and-hear-full-case\/\" title=\"... asks Supreme Court to allow firing of FTC member and hear full case\">lower-court injunction<\/a> that has blocked Cook&#8217;s removal; Trump fired Cook last August over allegations of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed\/\" title=\"...&#039;s Lawyer Admits ... Can Fire His Client From The ...\">pre-office mortgage fraud<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Clement argued Cook was unlawfully terminated, saying <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >pre-office allegations adn insufficient notice meant<\/a> she lacked due process. Under questioning from Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, however, he conceded the president can be the ultimate decision-maker on removals, though he suggested it might be better if a less prejudged decision-maker handled notice and review.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Gorsuch pressed on how the statute authorizes the president to make removal decisions, and Justice Clarence Thomas noted the governing statute dose not explicitly require a hearing or review for Fed board members removed &#8220;for cause.&#8221; The exchange highlighted tensions over separation of powers, due process expectations, and the scope of presidential removal authority in the case.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=I2kcFtPLedM\">Brookings Institution\/YouTube<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/21\/at-scotus-lisa-cooks-attorney-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=At%20SCOTUS,%20Lisa%20Cook%E2%80%99s%20Attorney%20Admits%20Trump%20Can%20Fire%20His%20Client%20From%20The%20Fed&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/21\/at-scotus-lisa-cooks-attorney-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=At%20SCOTUS,%20Lisa%20Cook%E2%80%99s%20Attorney%20Admits%20Trump%20Can%20Fire%20His%20Client%20From%20The%20Fed&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/21\/at-scotus-lisa-cooks-attorney-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/21\/at-scotus-lisa-cooks-attorney-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=At%20SCOTUS,%20Lisa%20Cook%E2%80%99s%20Attorney%20Admits%20Trump%20Can%20Fire%20His%20Client%20From%20The%20Fed&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/21\/at-scotus-lisa-cooks-attorney-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>In a stunning admission, Democrat Lisa Cook&rsquo;s attorney conceded that President Trump possesses the legal authority to remove his client from her role as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. <\/p>\n<p>The moment came during Wednesday&rsquo;s Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/event\/public-affairs-event\/justices-consider-legality-of-pres-trump-firing-fed-governor\/439171\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oral arguments<\/a> in <em>Trump v. Cook<\/em>, which centers around a request brought by the Trump administration to pause a lower court injunction preventing Cook&rsquo;s removal. As The Federalist previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/01\/scotus-declines-to-halt-lower-court-blockade-on-fed-gov-lisa-cooks-removal-for-now\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, Trump fired Cook in August over allegations that she committed mortgage fraud prior to joining the Fed. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1655696765\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>During the hearing, Cook&rsquo;s lawyer Paul Clement argued that Cook was unlawfully terminated by the president. More specifically, he echoed claims from his team&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/25\/25A312\/385180\/20251119155936464_Cook%20Supplemental%20Brief.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">brief<\/a> in the case that pre-office allegations are not sufficient for removal and that Cook was not properly notified of her removal or given an opportunity to challenge the allegations against her.<\/p>\n<p>Under questioning from Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, however, Clement conceded a major point &mdash; that Trump does, in fact, have the ultimate authority to remove Cook and other members of the Fed&rsquo;s Board of Governors. <\/p>\n<p>Clement argued that Trump&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/trump-says-hes-firing-federal-reserve-governor-lisa-cook-she-says-she-wont-resign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">initial efforts<\/a> to fire Cook via Truth Social posts show he &ldquo;wasn&rsquo;t acting like a removing authority that was subject to any due process.&rdquo; He further claimed that if the president &ldquo;were sort of subject to that, he wouldn&rsquo;t have said in his opening tweet, &lsquo;You must resign,&rsquo; and he wouldn&rsquo;t have said two days later, &lsquo;Resign or be fired.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Alito interjected, asking Clement whether &mdash; under his standard &mdash; such firing notices have to come from &ldquo;a body of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-2\/\" title=\"...&#039;s Lawyer Admits ... Can Fire His Client From The ...\">disinterested decision-makers &#038;mdash<\/a>; people who are not part of the executive branch and can exercise independent judgment that way?&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Clement answered in the negative and added that it &ldquo;requires &hellip; notice and opportunity to provide evidence and a decision-maker who hasn&rsquo;t prejudged the issue.&rdquo; He acknowledged that such a &ldquo;decision-maker can be the president,&rdquo; but said he would &ldquo;not necessarily recommend it as my choice A.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Clement&rsquo;s response prompted immediate pushback from Gorsuch, who questioned, &ldquo;How can it not be the president? The statute authorizes <em>the president<\/em> to make the removal decision. How could it be anybody else?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>After receiving a sputtering answer, Gorsuch once again interjected and asked, &ldquo;The president has to make the decision, right? Or delegate it to somebody who he wishes to make that decision, who&rsquo;s reportable to him?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Yes, yes. At will,&rdquo; Clement said. &ldquo;Right. Absolutely. &hellip; The president can be the final decision-maker, but if he&rsquo;s gonna be the final decision-maker and there&rsquo;s a due process right &hellip; then, you know, he needs to be a little bit careful and say, &lsquo;These are the allegations.&rsquo; He can&rsquo;t start by pre-judging the issue by saying, &lsquo;Resign.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShawnFleetwood\/status\/2014011251697869161?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">underscored<\/a> by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas in one of his questions to Clement, the <a href=\"https:\/\/fraser.stlouisfed.org\/title\/banking-act-1935-983\/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statute<\/a> at the center of the <em>Trump v. Cook<\/em> case does not explicitly stipulate that Fed Board members removed &ldquo;for cause&rdquo; by the president are entitled to &ldquo;a hearing and review.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"bBvksMAYNxwpotL\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Justices Alito and Gorsuch get Lisa Cook&rsquo;s attorney to concede that the president has the ultimate authority to remove Fed board members under existing law. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FDRLST?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FDRLST<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kSCLxsbrUV\">pic.twitter.com\/kSCLxsbrUV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Shawn Fleetwood (@ShawnFleetwood) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\/status\/2014024111379333256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/executive-power\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">executive power<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/federal-reserve\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Federal Reserve<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/federal-reserve-board\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Federal Reserve board<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/lisa-cook\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Lisa Cook<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/neil-gorsuch\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Neil Gorsuch<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/paul-clement\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Paul Clement<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/samuel-alito\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Samuel Alito<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/scotus\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">SCOTUS<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/trump-v-cook\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Trump v. Cook<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cook&#8217;s lawyer concedes Trump can remove Fed member<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2546667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lisa-Cook.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[32663,4742,3634],"class_list":["post-2546666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-federal-reserve","tag-lawyer","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lisa-Cook.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2546666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2546666"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2546666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2546673,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2546666\/revisions\/2546673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2546667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2546666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2546666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2546666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}