Supreme Court lets Fed governor Lisa Cook stay while her firing is litigated
The Supreme Court declined to let President Trump remove Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook for now, ruling 5-4 that she may keep her seat while her lawsuit challenging the firing proceeds, NPR reported . Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the Court’s three liberal members. Trump moved to dismiss Cook in August 2025 — the first attempted removal of a governor in the central bank’s 111-year history — without the notice or chance to respond that federal law requires.
The decision is notable for what it leaves intact rather than what it settles. The same day, the Court overturned Humphrey’s Executor and broadly expanded the president’s power to fire heads of independent agencies. By treating the Fed differently — at least provisionally — the justices signaled that the central bank may occupy a distinct constitutional position, preserving a measure of monetary-policy independence that markets and the bank’s credibility depend on.
For now Cook stays, and the underlying question of whether the president can remove a Fed governor returns to the lower courts. The split lineup, with Kavanaugh and the liberals in the majority, suggests the Court is not prepared to extend its agency ruling to the Fed without a fuller record.