Supreme Court Allows Lisa Cook to Stay on Fed

The justices have 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 Fed regarding the firing of 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.”

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.

The Trump administration 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.