US Supreme Court blocks Trump's firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook, carving the central bank out of its independent-agency ruling
Hours after overturning Humphrey's Executor for the FTC, a 5-4 majority led by Chief Justice Roberts held that the US Federal Reserve's unique 'tradition of independence' shields its governors from at-will removal by the US president, leaving Cook in post while her lawsuit continues
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Summary
The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Trump v. Cook on June 29 to block Trump's firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, the first Black woman appointed to the Fed board. Chief Justice Roberts, joined by Justice Kavanaugh and the three liberal justices, held that the Fed's singular "tradition of central banking protected from political interference" places it outside the at-will removal authority the court granted the US president over other independent agencies in the companion Slaughter ruling issued the same morning. Cook will remain in her post while her lawsuit challenging the August 2025 firing, over mortgage-fraud allegations she denies, proceeds in the lower courts. The decision leaves open the possibility of dismissing her later if the administration presents adequate cause.
Why it matters
The ruling draws a constitutional line around the Federal Reserve that global markets, central-bank peers and trading partners can price as durable, at least for now. Combined with the Slaughter ruling expanding presidential power over all other independent agencies, the day's SCOTUS decisions redraw the map of US regulatory independence in a way that will shape Fed credibility for years.