U.S. Supreme Court blocks Trump's attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook

The court, in a 5-4 ruling, blocked Trump’s bid to become the first President to remove a Fed official since Congress created the central bank in 1913

Updated - July 29, 2026 09:49 am IST

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday (June 29, 2026) to let Donald Trump fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, standing firm to preserve the central bank’s cherished independence against an unprecedented challenge by the Republican President.

The court, in a 5-4 ruling, blocked Trump’s bid to become the first President to remove a Fed official since Congress created the central bank in 1913. In his second term as President, Trump has tested the limits of presidential power in numerous other ways as well.

The Ruling

Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh were in the majority, along with the court’s three liberal justices. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett dissented.

Roberts, who authored the ruling, said Trump "failed to afford Cook the procedural protections to which she was entitled by statute. Without such protections, she could not properly dispute the charges the president laid against her."

The Federal Reserve’s governors "do not serve at the president’s pleasure - they instead serve staggered 14 year terms, and may be removed only 'for cause,'" Roberts added.

Background

Trump last August had cited unproven mortgage fraud allegations in trying to oust Cook, the first Black woman to serve as a Fed Governor, while she called that a pretext to remove her for monetary policy differences.

Cook's Response

In a statement on Monday (June 29, 2026), Cook welcomed the court’s decision, saying it affirms the Fed’s obligation to make policy decisions independently, free from political interference.

"This was never about mortgage documents signed years before I became a Federal Reserve governor. It was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure and continued to set interest rates based only on what would best serve the American people," Cook said.

Legal Proceedings

The Justices denied a request from Trump’s Justice Department to lift a Judge’s order barring him from immediately firing Cook while her legal challenge to the termination continues to play out. Cook denied Trump’s allegations.

Related Rulings

In another ruling on Monday (June 29, 2026), the Supreme Court backed Trump’s firing of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic Federal Trade Commission member, expanding his powers over the government and overturning its 1935 precedent that had recognised the authority of Congress to protect leaders of certain regulatory agencies from presidential removal at will.

Monday’s Cook ruling follows the February 20 decision by the Justices in another case with major economic ramifications to strike down most of Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, a ruling that elicited a vitriolic condemnation of the court by the president.

The Federal Reserve Under Pressure

The Fed is the world’s most important central bank, an institution that determines the cost of credit for the United States and beyond and which has been in Trump’s crosshairs since his return to the presidency in January 2025.

Cook’s term in the job was due to run until 2038. She was appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden in 2022.

Trump’s targeting of Cook and a separate criminal investigation his administration launched in January, but later dropped, against then-Fed Chair Jerome Powell together represented the biggest challenge to the central bank’s independence since its founding.

May 15 was the final day of Powell’s eight years as Fed chair, though he remains a member of its Board of Governors. The U.S. Senate on May 13 voted to confirm Trump’s nominee Kevin Warsh as Powell’s successor, and he was sworn in on May 22.

When the Justices in October agreed to hear the case involving Cook, they left her in the post for the time being. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in January, with Cook and Powell in attendance.