Trump administration claims vast powers as it races to fire Fed governor before meeting

The Trump administration sought to convince a federal court Sunday that President Donald 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 Trump that would allow him to proceed with firing Cook after a lower court halted those plans last week.

In their new filing, lawyers for the Justice Department defended Trump's decision to dismiss 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, Trump announced he would fire 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 Sunday that the decision to remove Cook is "an unreviewable exercise of the discretion Congress vested" in the president.

Lawyers for the government also framed the ouster as "reasonable," arguing that the claims against Cook had created doubt that she "can be trusted to act with forthrightness, care, and disinterest in managing the U.S. money supply."

The government's arguments to the appeals court echoed those that it presented to a lower court earlier this month, before a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump from firing Cook. There, Jia Cobb, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, found that Trump could not remove Cook for conduct that occurred before she was confirmed to the Fed, nor for claims that do not involve her professional conduct.

The Trump administration has asked the appellate panel to stay that order and rule by the end of Monday, before the Fed's two-day meeting, which begins Tuesday. Trump has attacked the central bank for months, demanding that its policymakers slash interest rates.

On Saturday, lawyers for Cook told the court that a decision that prevents her from attending that meeting - and casting a vote on interest rates - could unleash turmoil in the financial markets and undermine the political independence of the Fed.

Trump has forged ahead with his attempts to fire Cook even as new documents have called into question whether the Fed governor falsified records to obtain more favorable loan terms, as the president and his allies have alleged.

Trump claims that Cook purchased two residences in 2021, before her confirmation to the Fed, and listed both as her primary residence. But a preliminary loan estimate for one of those properties, a condominium in Atlanta, classified it as a "vacation home," according to the records, which were viewed by The New York Times.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.