Chief Justice Roberts Postpones Decision on Trump Bid for Immediate Ouster of a Fed Governor, Lisa Cook

Chief Justice Roberts is giving a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook, until September 25 to respond to a Trump administration request that would effectively remove her from the board of the Federal Reserve while she fights her firing.The administration petitioned Chief Justice Roberts on Thursday to stay a lower court’s preliminary injunction that allows Ms. Cook to remain in her Fed role while a legal challenge to her firing works its way through the courts.Any stay issued by Chief Justice Roberts would be temporary, pending a decision by the full court on the administration request.President Trump and administration officials accuse Ms. Cook of mortgage fraud, claiming she simultaneously claimed two homes as her primary residence on mortgage paperwork.Ms. Cook has not been formally charged or convicted, but the Department of Justice has opened a criminal probe at the request of the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte.Mr. Trump first tried to remove Ms. Cook in August but she immediately went to court to block her dismissal, saying the firing oversteps the president’s authority.The Federal Reserve Act bars Mr. Trump from firing a Fed board member except “for cause.” The Department of Justice argues that Mr. Trump has unfettered authority to dismiss Ms. Cook because he is the sole arbiter of what constitutes “cause.”Ms. Cook has refused to step aside and took part in the Federal Open Market Committee meeting this week that resulted in a cut to the Federal Funds Rate. Ms. Cook argues that removing her while her suit plays out would “subvert the Federal Reserve’s historical independence and disrupt the American economy.”Some critics of Ms. Cook’s firing suggest it is racially motivated. The progressive Americans for Financial Reform, which calls for stricter regulation of the financial industry, calls Mr. Trump’s effort unlawful and a “racist dog whistle.”“No president in U.S. history has pursued their political enemies so recklessly, and this brazen attempt to coerce the Federal Reserve undermines the rule of law and threatens economic stability,” the managing director for policy at AFR, Patrick Woodall, says in a statement.“It is also another racist dog whistle that undermines the legitimacy of Black women (and all people of color) in positions of power,” the statement adds.Black America’s Digital Daily claims Mr. Trump’s targeting of Ms. Cook is part of a string of attacks on black women in positions of power. It cited New York state’s attorney general, Letitia James; Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles; and prosecutor Fani Willis in Georgia as other examples.The website claims Mr. Trump has shown a pattern of “maligning their intelligence and competence, questioning their legitimacy, spitting out insults and mocking their appearance, attacking their very presence in public life.”Mr. Trump has also demanded that the district judge who issued a preliminary injunction blocking Ms. Cook’s removal recuse herself from the case.Mr. Trump posted on his Truth Social account that Judge Jia Cobb and Ms. Cook were both members of Delta Sigma Theta, a historically black sorority. The sorority issued a statement saying it supported Ms. Cook.The sorority “unequivocally opposes any measures that silence Black women, whose voices and leadership remain vital to the progress of our nation,” the international president of the sorority, Cheryl Turner, said.

Chief Justice Roberts Postpones Decision on Trump Bid for Immediate Ouster of a Fed Governor, Lisa Cook

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