Deadline: Legal Blog-Judge blocks Trump's attempt to fire Lisa Cook from the Fed, but the president is appealing

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The Federal Reserve board member sued over what she called Trump’s “unprecedented and illegal” attempt to remove her.

Judge blocks Trump’s attempt to fire Lisa Cook from Federal Reserve, but president can appeal...

www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...

— The Fighting Liberal Texan🌈🌊💙🦋Congress Switchboard 202-224-3121 (@fightingliberal.bsky.social) 2025-09-10T15:33:02.755Z

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/lisa-cook-restraining-order-trump-federal-reserve-rcna227970

A federal district judge’s ruling late Tuesday keeps Lisa Cook on the Federal Reserve board of governors for now. But it’s probably not the last word in the historic case, which is likely to come from the Supreme Court......

Cobb wrote that Cook had made a “strong showing” that Trump’s attempt to fire her violated federal law, which requires cause for removal. The judge reasoned that the “for cause” requirement in the Federal Reserve Act “does not contemplate removing an individual purely for conduct that occurred before they began in office.” She wrote that the “best reading of the ‘for cause’ provision is that the bases for removal of a member of the Board of Governors are limited to grounds concerning a Governor’s behavior in office and whether they have been faithfully and effectively executing their statutory duties.”

Cobb noted that the case involves “the first purported ‘for cause’ removal of a Board Governor in the Federal Reserve’s 111-year history” and that it “raises important matters of first impression,” meaning issues that haven’t been legally resolved by courts before.

Cook, who has not been officially charged with any fraud, argues that Trump’s claim of wrongdoing against her falls well short of the cause mandated by federal law to remove a board member prematurely. “Without emergency relief,” her lawyers wrote ahead of a hearing Cobb held before she ruled, the government is “now likely to allow an unexpired vacancy to occur for which President Trump has indicated he is ready to fill.”

Cook’s complaint underscores the stakes, noting that the Federal Reserve’s independence “is vital to its ability to make sound economic decisions, free from the political pressures of an election cycle” and warning that if "markets and the public believe that the central bank is making decisions based on political pressure rather than sound economic data, that confidence erodes.”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. The DC Circuit sets an ultra-fast briefing schedule on the bid by Trump to fire Lisa Cook

There will be some briefs to read. The fact that Gov. Lisa Cook did not commit mortgage fraud will be discussed in these briefs

Link to tweet

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2. Lisa Cook's latest filing before the court of appeals disputes the fact that there was any mortgage fraud

Judge Cobb found that there was no cause to fire Lisa Cook. trump is appealing to the DC Circuit which has set a very short time frame for briefing.

Link to tweet

Here is Lisa Cook's filing which is a fun read.

Link to tweet

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.42372/gov.uscourts.cadc.42372.01208775253.0.pdf

I was pleased to see that this filing contained a footnote on the recently disclosed facts that showed that Lisa Cook did NOT commit mortgage fraud

6The complete property records reveal the opposite. See, e.g., Fed Governor Lisa Cook claimed 2nd residence as ‘vacation home,’ undercutting Trump fraud claims, Assoc. Press (Sept. 12, 2025), https://apnews.com/article/federal-reserve-lisa-cook trump-852820c83e5001ec3b6e2d14047965c9 (affirming, based on the review of bank documents, that Governor Cook designated her Atlanta property for use as a “Vacation Home”).

I have not seen the trump fling which was supposed to be flied this afternoon. I suspect that trump will object to these facts cited above.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Lisa Cook's latest filing before the court of appeals disputes the fact that there was any mortgage fraud

Judge Cobb found that there was no cause to fire Lisa Cook. trump is appealing to the DC Circuit which has set a very short time frame for briefing.

Link to tweet

Here is Lisa Cook's filing which is a fun read.

Link to tweet

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.42372/gov.uscourts.cadc.42372.01208775253.0.pdf

I was pleased to see that this filing contained a footnote on the recently disclosed facts that showed that Lisa Cook did NOT commit mortgage fraud

6The complete property records reveal the opposite. See, e.g., Fed Governor Lisa Cook claimed 2nd residence as ‘vacation home,’ undercutting Trump fraud claims, Assoc. Press (Sept. 12, 2025), https://apnews.com/article/federal-reserve-lisa-cook trump-852820c83e5001ec3b6e2d14047965c9 (affirming, based on the review of bank documents, that Governor Cook designated her Atlanta property for use as a “Vacation Home”).

I have not seen the trump fling which was supposed to be flied this afternoon. I suspect that trump will object to these facts cited above.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. MaddowBlog-Trump's case against the Fed's Lisa Cook goes from bad to worse

The White House’s claim against Cook is rooted in the idea that she committed mortgage fraud, and now there’s fresh evidence to suggest she did not.

Remove Bill Pulte. Remove Donald Trump.

Trump’s case against the Fed’s Lisa Cook goes from bad to worse
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

#GOPTraitors #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #GOPKakistocracy #AmericanFascistParty #Project2025 #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol

— Democracy Matters! (@democracymatters.bsky.social) 2025-09-15T20:08:47.339Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-case-feds-lisa-cook-goes-bad-worse-rcna231451

There’s no shortage of problems with this, but an especially important one emerged late last week. NBC News reported:

Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook declared in financial forms that her Atlanta property would be used as a ‘vacation home’ and not her primary residence, according to documents obtained by NBC News that appear to undercut the Trump administration’s allegations of mortgage fraud.

.......So, the administration is giving up? Of course not. The New York Times reported:

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.

A federal district court ruled last week that Cook can only be legally ousted for cause, and the White House has failed to meet that threshold. The administration’s lawyers have appealed that ruling, insisting that Trump’s power is “unreviewable.”

The case is now pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, though time is of the essence. The Times’ report added, “The Trump administration has asked the appellate panel to stay that order and rule by the end of Monday, ahead of the Fed’s two-day meeting, which begins on Tuesday.”

Again, no one is even bothering with the pretense that the administration is scrambling to oust Cook because of a desperate need for swift justice related to the mortgage bureaucracy. Rather, the White House sees an opponent that it’s eager to remove from the board. Watch this space.