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Deadline Legal Blog-Powell probe comes ahead of SCOTUS hearing on Trump's Federal Reserve firing power
The high court has signaled it wants to protect the Fed’s independence more than that of other federal agencies.
Link to tweet
https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/powell-doj-probe-supreme-court-federal-reserve-lisa-cook
News that the Justice Department is investigating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell comes just ahead of a Supreme Court hearing over President Donald Trump’s bid to fire Lisa Cook from the Fed’s Board of Governors.
While the high court’s Republican-appointed majority has broadly blessed Trump’s firing powers and doesn’t seem to care much for independent federal agencies in general, the court has nonetheless signaled it wants to insulate the Fed from Trump’s consolidation of agency power. Indeed, the court let Cook stay on the board pending the outcome of the litigation, which the court hasn’t allowed for many other agency members.
Against that backdrop, news of the Powell probe might not help the Trump administration in the Cook case. It’s unclear whether the new investigation will come up directly in the appeal, but the addition of further apparent evidence that the administration is weaponizing the DOJ to carry out the president’s policy goals could make the high court even more likely to take steps to secure the central bank’s independence.
In a video statement Sunday night, Powell said the DOJ served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas on Friday, threatening prosecution related to his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee last June. The testimony was about renovations to Fed office buildings. ......
Again, the Powell investigation might not surface formally at all at the Cook hearing, and perhaps the court was already determined to safeguard Fed independence — at least more than other agencies.
But the court that has gone out of its way to protect the Fed is surely aware of the news. And to the extent that it agrees with Powell’s pretextual view of the probe, that would only seem to strengthen the court’s apparent inclination to protect the Fed’s independence.
While the high court’s Republican-appointed majority has broadly blessed Trump’s firing powers and doesn’t seem to care much for independent federal agencies in general, the court has nonetheless signaled it wants to insulate the Fed from Trump’s consolidation of agency power. Indeed, the court let Cook stay on the board pending the outcome of the litigation, which the court hasn’t allowed for many other agency members.
Against that backdrop, news of the Powell probe might not help the Trump administration in the Cook case. It’s unclear whether the new investigation will come up directly in the appeal, but the addition of further apparent evidence that the administration is weaponizing the DOJ to carry out the president’s policy goals could make the high court even more likely to take steps to secure the central bank’s independence.
In a video statement Sunday night, Powell said the DOJ served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas on Friday, threatening prosecution related to his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee last June. The testimony was about renovations to Fed office buildings. ......
Again, the Powell investigation might not surface formally at all at the Cook hearing, and perhaps the court was already determined to safeguard Fed independence — at least more than other agencies.
But the court that has gone out of its way to protect the Fed is surely aware of the news. And to the extent that it agrees with Powell’s pretextual view of the probe, that would only seem to strengthen the court’s apparent inclination to protect the Fed’s independence.
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