The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared inclined to keep Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook in her job, casting doubt on President Donald Trump’s bid to wrest control of the nation’s central bank.
The justices heard arguments over Trump’s effort to fire Cook based on allegations she committed mortgage fraud, which she denies. No president has fired a sitting governor in the 112-year history of the Fed, which was structured to be independent of day-to-day politics.
Allowing Cook’s firing to go forward “would weaken, if not shatter, the independence of the Federal Reserve,” said Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of three Trump appointees on the nation’s highest court.
At least five other justices on the nine-member court also sounded skeptical about the effort to remove her from office.
Both Cook and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sat through nearly two hours of arguments in the packed courtroom.
