The Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to enforce President Trump’s decision to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook following allegations of mortgage fraud.
Cook took part in an important vote to reduce interest rates this week, despite a split decision from an appeals panel that denied the administration’s earlier request to intervene.
The administration waited until the Federal Reserve meeting concluded before approaching the Supreme Court, which has frequently ruled in favor of Trump in urgent matters.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the application that the lower decisions “flout many strands of this Court’s precedents.”
This request sets the stage for a significant confrontation in the Supreme Court concerning the autonomy of the Federal Reserve, an agency traditionally meant to operate independently of the White House’s political influence.
Trump is the inaugural president seeking to dismiss a Federal Reserve governor, having previously targeted the Fed’s chairman, Jerome Powell, with similar threats of dismissal.
Last month, Trump removed Cook from her position, based on a criminal referral by the Federal Housing Finance Agency alleging she identified properties in Michigan and Georgia as primary residences, which could potentially secure lower mortgage rates.
However, Cook’s lawyers have doubled down that the Fed governor has not committed mortgage fraud and say subsequent media reports that she referred to her Atlanta property as a “vacation home” in a loan estimate cast doubt.
Cook also contends that the president’s reasoning for her firing, or “cause,” falls short of what’s required by law.
Last week, a federal judge blocked Trump’s attempt to fire Cook, finding that her removal was likely unlawful and she didn’t receive enough process to contest the accusations.
The administration raced to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ahead of the Fed meeting, but the court discarded the administration’s emergency bid to immediately re-fire Cook in a 2-1 decision Monday evening.
Cook went on to participate in the meeting of Federal Open Market Committee — the Fed’s monetary policymaking body, which includes the board members — which announced a quarter-point cut in its benchmark interest rate Wednesday afternoon.
The vote came as Trump has for months railed against the central bank for refusing to lower interest rates amid uncertainty around his trade agenda and the volatility of markets.
Cook voted with the majority for a quarter-point cut.
Stephen Miran, Trump’s newest pick to join the Fed’s board who was confirmed narrowly by the Senate earlier this week, was the sole dissenter and voted for a larger, half-point cut.
