A U.S. appeals court declined on Monday to allow Donald Trump to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook — the first time a president has pursued such action since the central bank’s founding in 1913 — in the latest step in a legal battle that threatens the Fed’s longstanding independence.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit means that Cook can for now remain at the Fed ahead of its policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, when it is expected to cut U.S. interest rates to shore up a cooling labour market.
The court denied the Justice Department’s request to put on hold a judge’s order temporarily blocking the Republican president from removing Cook, an appointee of Democratic former president Joe Biden.
Yep, straight to SCOTUS.
The thing that makes the outcome suspenseful is that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh have been signalling “but not the Fed” when they’re attacking agency independence. Probably because they have stock portfolios.
So it seems like they may try to carve some distinction that saves the Fed from the same fate as the FTC, CFPB, NRLB, and merit protection board. It’s not at all clear what’s that might be.