President Trump is temporarily being blocked in his effort to fire a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook.

The Supreme Court’s chief justice, John Roberts, on Wednesday declined to overturn two lower court rulings that blocked the president from having her immediately removed as her lawsuit over her dismissal works its way through the courts. In his order, Chief Justice Roberts says the high court will hear oral arguments in January on the issue.

Mr. Trump and his administration have accused Ms. Cook of committing mortgage fraud, citing documents related to two properties Ms. Cook allegedly claimed as primary residences. Some documents show that she claimed one residence as a vacation home and the other as her primary residence, Reuters reported.

Lawyers for Ms. Cook told the high court that removing her from her post “would threaten our Nation’s economic stability and raise questions about the Federal Reserve’s continued independence.”

Ms. Cook, who was confirmed by the Senate for her seat, said in a filing that her removal could risk “shock waves in the financial markets that could not easily be undone.”

The Department of Justice, in its appeal to the Supreme Court, accused the lower court jurists of committing “improper judicial interference with the President’s removal authority.”

The DOJ argued that Ms. Cook’s contention and the lower court’s finding that she is entitled to civil service protections is not reconcilable with the president’s removal authority. 

“This theory is untenable and would wreak havoc on sensitive presidential decision-making,” the attorneys write. “The lower court’s due-process theory would invite judicial micromanagement of the President’s exercise of his core Article II powers — even where, as here, courts have no authority to review the substance of the President’s ultimate decision.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that it would not remove Ms. Cook because the court believes that she has not been given the proper amount of time to respond to the presidency’s accusations. 

“In this court, the government does not dispute that it failed to provide Cook with even minimal process — that is, notice of the allegation against her and a meaningful opportunity to respond — before she was purportedly removed,” Judge Brad Garcia, who was nominated to the bench by President Biden, wrote for the majority. 

“The district court thus preliminarily enjoined Cook’s removal based, in part, on its conclusion that her removal likely violated the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. That conclusion is correct,” the appeals court found. 

Citing Mr. Trump’s vast powers as president, justice department lawyers argued that judges had no right to review his firing of Ms. Cook. In their appeal to the appellate court from the district court, government lawyers argued that federal statute is vague enough to allow Mr. Trump to remove Ms. Cook, so long as he identifies some reason other than a policy disagreement.

Ms. Cook has not been charged or convicted in connection with the mortgages.