WASHINGTON \u2014 The Supreme Court on Monday delivered a setback to President Donald Trump, rejecting his attempt to fire Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, while in a separate case giving him a freer hand to exert control over other hitherto independent federal agencies.<\/p>\n
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The two decisions, issued at the same time and both authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, together marked another example of the conservative-majority court pushing back on one aspect of Trump\u2019s broad exertion of executive power while giving him the green light on another.<\/p>\n
Though Trump may not fire Cook for now, the court allowed him to remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. In the latter case, the court overturned a key 1935 Supreme Court ruling called Humphrey\u2019s Executor v. United States, which upheld restrictions on the president\u2019s power to fire FTC members.<\/p>\n
The court was divided differently in each case. In Cook, the vote was 5-4 with the court\u2019s liberals joining the majority, while they dissented in Slaughter, which was 6-3 on ideological lines. Only Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh were in the majority in both cases.<\/p>\n
In the Cook case, Roberts rejected the Trump administration\u2019s contention that the president\u2019s firing of Cook for cause \u2014\u00a0over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she denies \u2014 could not be reviewed in court and that she could not stay in office while contesting the decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo accept any of those arguments would in effect transform the Federal Reserve\u2019s for-cause protection into at-will employment,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Such a step would be \u201cout of step with the statute Congress enacted and our nation\u2019s tradition of central banking protected from political interference,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Cook welcomed the decision, saying that Trump\u2019s actions were \u201can 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump could still seek to fire her, and indicated in a Truth Social post<\/a> that he will, saying, \u201cWe will take appropriate action immediately to make sure that someone who has committed wrongdoing will not be making vital decisions concerning the Welfare of the United States of America!\u201d<\/p>\n The court in effect created a Federal Reserve exception to its general view \u2014 long-favored by conservatives suspicious of what some term a federal bureaucratic deep state \u2014 that restrictions on the president\u2019s power to fire members of federal agencies imposed by Congress were an unconstitutional restriction of executive authority.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Constitution creates three branches, but only one president,\u201d Roberts wrote in the Slaughter ruling. <\/p>\n \u201cSubordinates who exercise the president\u2019s power are subject to removal by him. Then, and only then, can they remain accountable to the president, and the president to the people,\u201d wrote Roberts.<\/p>\n So, while Cook can remain in office for now, the court granted Trump free rein to continue firing members of agencies that were specifically set up by Congress to be free of political interference. <\/p>\n The court concluded that the Federal Reserve is different from other independent agencies, in part based on its unique structure and history.<\/p>\n While the FTC ruling only directly affects Slaughter, whom Trump fired in March 2025, the logic applies to other agencies with similar restrictions on the president firing members without cause. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers,\u201d Trump said in a Truth Social post<\/a>.<\/p>\n Slaughter said in a statement that the \u201cconsequences of this ruling will be felt by every American\u201d by making independent agencies more subject to the political whims of a president.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s ruling makes it possible for presidents to fire watchdogs who won\u2019t put politics over principle, and replace them with lapdogs,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n The court has already allowed Trump to fire, without cause, members other agencies that regulate health, safety, labor and environmental issues, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Surface Transportation Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.<\/p>\n Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has also sought to remove members of other independent federal agencies, which the Supreme Court has allowed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The court, whose majority has been skeptical of the concept of independent federal agencies that are not subject to presidential control, has undermined removal protections for federal employees in recent years in a series of cases involving other agencies that were brought by business interests.<\/p>\n The president has more broadly sought to dramatically reshape the federal government using an aggressive form of executive power. In addition to seeking to control previously independent agencies, he has also tried to dismantle some agencies and has fired thousands of federal workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the separate Cook ruling imposes a new barrier to Trump\u2019s attempt to stamp his mark on the Federal Reserve, an independent body that guides U.S. monetary policy. Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has pushed for lower interest rates and has criticized the Fed, and recent Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in particular, for failing to act on his wishes.<\/p>\n Trump has said he fired Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud made by one of his political appointees, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who is now also serving as acting Director of National Intelligence<\/a>. Cook has denied the allegations, and bank documents obtained by NBC News<\/a> appear to contradict the fraud claim.<\/p>\n In an X post<\/a> on Monday, Pulte said he believed Cook would ultimately be indicted for mortgage fraud.<\/p>\n Trump moved to fire Cook in late August, prompting her to file a federal lawsuit. Cook, who has remained on the board since, had argued that Trump did not have the authority to remove her from office while she challenged his decision in court. Lower courts ruled in her favor<\/a>, leading Trump to rush to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n In the ruling, Roberts said Cook is \u201centitled to notice and some opportunity to respond prior to her termination,\u201d which he said would not need to be a \u201cfull -blown judicial trial\u201d or a meeting with Trump himself. He suggested it could be done using written materials only.<\/p>\n And if Trump does decide to move ahead with the firing, \u201cThe ultimate question of whether the president can remove Cook for cause will depend in part on the underlying facts,\u201d Roberts added.<\/p>\n The court did not address whether Trump\u2019s claims about Cook have any merit.<\/p>\n