Supreme Court seems poised to reject Trump’s attempt to immediately fire a Fed governor

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed poised to reject President Donald Trump's bid to immediately remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board, with key justices expressing concern about undermining the long-standing independence of the central bank.

Justices from across the ideological spectrum questioned whether the allegations President Donald Trump lodged against Cook - an unproven assertion that she engaged in mortgage fraud before taking office - were serious enough to allow the president to fire her.

They suggested it was premature for the court to resolve the case when there were still factual disputes over those allegations, and they sounded skeptical that Cook had received sufficient notice of Trump's accusations and an opportunity to respond.

After about two hours of argument, a majority of the justices seemed likely to order additional proceedings, perhaps in the lower courts, meaning the Supreme Court's ruling may not be the final word in the case. But if the justices agree to allow Cook to keep her job in the meantime, the result would be that the president's effort to reshape the Fed would be frozen for now.

The court's conservative majority has repeatedly allowed Trump to oust leaders of other independent agencies as he moves to expand presidential power and seize control of the federal bureaucracy. But the justices have signaled that the Fed may be different and uniquely insulated from executive influence because of its structure and history.

Key justices sharply questioned the Trump administration's lawyer about the implications of the president's position for the independence of the Fed and the economy.

Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, who are often in the majority, noted that former Fed chairs and treasury secretaries had warned against allowing the president to immediately remove Cook.

Accepting the president's view, Kavanaugh said, would "weaken, if not shatter, the independence of the Federal Reserve," opening the door to future presidents trying to dismiss Fed officials "at will."

The justices agreed to hear Cook's case on an expedited basis and had allowed her to remain at the Fed before Wednesday's arguments. The court is expected to rule in the coming weeks or months. The final outcome of the case could determine how much latitude presidents have to influence the direction of the powerful central bank, which Congress intentionally tried to insulate from political pressures.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.