{"id":2546821,"date":"2026-01-21T19:13:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-16\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T19:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:15:15","slug":"cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-16\/","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-16%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=2546821&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>during oral arguments in Trump v. Cook at the Supreme Court, Lisa Cook&#8217;s lawyer, Paul clement, conceded that under existing law the president does have the ultimate authority to remove members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The case stems from President Trump&#8217;s August firing of Cook over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed\/\" title=\"...&#039;s ... Admits ... Can Fire His Client From The Fed\">alleged pre-office mortgage fraud<\/a> and the management&#8217;s request to lift a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-withdraws-national-guard-from-chicago-la-and-portland\/\" title=\"... withdraws National Guard from Chicago, LA, and Portland\">lower-court injunction blocking<\/a> her removal. Clement argued Cook was unlawfully terminated, saying pre-office allegations alone shouldn&#8217;t justify removal and that she was not given proper notice or an opportunity to challenge the charges. Under questioning by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, Clement acknowledged the president can serve as the final decision-maker but urged that due-process safeguards-clear notice, a chance to present evidence, and a neutral decision-maker-should apply; he conceded, though, that the president could fulfill that role.Justice Gorsuch pressed on how the statute authorizes the president to make or delegate the removal decision, and justice Clarence Thomas noted the governing statute does not explicitly require hearings or review for &#8220;for cause&#8221; removals. The article reports on this key concession and the justices&#8217; probing as they consider whether to allow the lower-court injunction to remain.  <\/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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-2\/\" title=\"...&#039;s ... Admits ... Can Fire His Client From The Fed\">committed mortgage fraud prior<\/a> 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__b89e9-1299432585\">\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-3\/\" title=\"...&#039;s ... Admits ... Can Fire His Client From The Fed\">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=\"RKLncIsCMyw6QpiZvEjVgDhxXaboNSeG\"><\/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 admits Trump can lawfully remove her<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2546822,"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":[11643,32319,32663,4742,5894],"class_list":["post-2546821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-cook","tag-donald-trump","tag-federal-reserve","tag-lawyer","tag-politics"],"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\/2546821","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=2546821"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2546821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2546825,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2546821\/revisions\/2546825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2546822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2546821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2546821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2546821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}