Trump Administration Claims Vast Powers as It Races to Fire Fed Governor Before Meeting
Trump has forged ahead with his attempts to fire Lisa Cook even as new documents call his claims of mortgage fraud into question.
By Tony Romm, New York Times
Sept. 14, 2025, 3:40 p.m. ET
The Trump administration sought to convince a federal court on Sunday that President Trump possesses vast powers and “discretion” to fire federal officials, as it raced to block Lisa Cook, a governor on the Federal Reserve, from participating in this week’s meeting of the central bank.
The government offered its latest arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where judges are weighing an emergency request by Mr. Trump that would allow him to proceed with firing Ms. Cook after a lower court halted those plans last week.
In their new filing, lawyers for the Justice Department defended Mr. Trump’s decision to dismiss Ms. Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud, which involved loan documents she signed before joining the Fed in 2022. While she has not been charged with any wrongdoing or convicted of a crime, Mr. Trump announced he would fire Ms. Cook from the Fed in late August, citing a provision in the central bank’s founding law that allows him to oust members for “cause.”
Newly reported documents have called into question the president’s assertions. But the administration told the court on Sunday that the decision to remove Ms. Cook is “an unreviewable exercise of the discretion Congress vested” in the president.
Times
Repeats the same lies (arguments) plus claims that the judiciary branch of the government has no say. |
