Supreme Court halts Trump’s firing of Fed’s Lisa Cook

The Supreme Court blocked President Trump’s firing of Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook on Monday in a 5-4 vote, ruling she can remain on the job as her legal challenge moves forward.  

Trump became the first president to attempt to fire a Fed board member in its 112-year history when he sacked Cook last year over accusations of mortgage fraud.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the president didn’t provide her enough process to contest the allegations.

“To be clear, the ultimate question of whether the President can remove Cook for cause will depend in part on the underlying facts,” Roberts wrote. 

“In this opinion, we have not addressed the facts, as they have yet to be found or analyzed under the relevant legal standards. Rather, we have simply addressed the parties’ arguments about the appropriate legal standards under which the facts must be evaluated,” he continued.

The case now returns to a lower court, where Cook will continue to press her claims.  

The decision hands a major loss to Trump just after the Supreme Court gave him a major win in his broader campaign to increase control over independent agencies. The justices expanded presidential power by allowing Trump to fire leaders at those other agencies, while carving out the Fed to keep........

© The Hill