{"id":2547351,"date":"2026-01-22T04:05:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T09:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-51\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T04:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T09:06:16","slug":"cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-51\/","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-51%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=2547351&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 supreme Court oral arguments in Trump v. Cook, Lisa Cook&#8217;s attorney, Paul Clement, acknowledged that President Trump legally has the authority to remove members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors &#8211; including Cook, whom Trump fired in August amid 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 Fed\">pre-office mortgage fraud<\/a>. The case involves the administration&#8217;s request to pause a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >lower-court injunction<\/a> that has blocked her removal. Clement maintained that Cook was unlawfully terminated because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooks-lawyer-admits-trump-can-fire-his-client-from-the-fed-6\/\" title=\"...&#039;s Lawyer Admits ... Can Fire His Client From The Fed\">pre-office allegations adn<\/a> the way she was notified denied her a proper chance to respond, but under questioning from Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch he conceded the president can be the ultimate decision-maker on removals.He said the president must avoid prejudging the matter and should provide notice and an opportunity to present evidence.Justice Gorsuch pushed on why the president, per the statute, would not be the proper final decision-maker, and Justice Clarence Thomas noted the governing statute does not explicitly require a hearing or review for &#8220;for cause&#8221; removals. The exchange suggests the dispute may turn more on due-process and statutory interpretation than on whether the president has removal authority.  <\/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__b89e9-1534461212\">\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 disinterested decision-makers &mdash; 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=\"eji3xoI6BE17a4nphXO5JS2VwLdZK8ulCNvzUMQsR0\"><\/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":2547352,"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":[7578,32663,4431,5894,3634],"class_list":["post-2547351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-dismissal","tag-federal-reserve","tag-legal","tag-politics","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\/2547351","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=2547351"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2547355,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547351\/revisions\/2547355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2547352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2547351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2547351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2547351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}