A federal judge Tuesday night temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Trump tried last month to fire Cook, citing allegations of mortgage fraud as “sufficient cause” for the unprecedented move. It was the first time a president has tried to fire a member of the central bank, and critics have warned that the move could upend the Fed’s political independence.
A president can only remove a Fed official “for cause,” generally understood to mean professional wrongdoing, and not over routine policy disagreements. Though the Justice Department is reportedly probing the mortgage fraud allegations against Cook, she has not been charged with or convicted of a crime and the alleged violation took place before her appointment to the Fed in 2022.