Supreme Court Fed governor from Georgia on board after Trump administration effort to remove

ATLANTA — Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve Board Governor from Georgia, will remain on the board.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that efforts to fire Cook from the board by President Donald Trump would not be affirmed.

The case stems from an attempt by the president to remove Cook from the board over what he claimed were criminal activities related to alleged mortgage fraud.

However, Cook filed suit arguing that she both had not received legally required time to respond to those allegations, nor did the reasoning meet the “for cause” requirements of the statute establishing positions on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

The Supreme Court’s majority agreed.

Writing for the opinion of the court, Chief Justice John Roberts said that allowing Cook’s removal, based on the case presented by the U.S. government, would transform board governorship from a for-cause protected tenure to an at-will employment position, “an interpretive leap out of step with the statute Congress enacted and our Nation’s tradition of central banking protected from political interference. We therefore deny the Government’s application.”

The court’s decision on Monday will keep Cook on the Board of Governors.

Her 14-year term is set to expire in 2038.

Cook’s attempted removal was one of several high-profile moves by the Trump administration, including initiating an investigation of then-Board Chairman Jerome Powell.

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