Overview
- Justices heard arguments on whether a president may remove a Federal Reserve governor without prior notice based on an asserted legitimate cause.
- The U.S. government, in a brief by John Sauer, urged courts to defer to presidential judgments on removals when the president cites cause.
- Lisa Cook, appointed in 2022 to a term running through 2038, denies mortgage-related misconduct and earlier won a federal court order vacating her dismissal.
- The Supreme Court previously ruled for Cook on procedural grounds in October, and the case now turns on the scope of executive removal authority.
- Days before the hearing, the Justice Department opened a criminal inquiry into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over headquarters renovations at the president’s request, intensifying scrutiny of the central bank’s leadership.