Trump asks Supreme Court to let him fire Fed's Lisa Cook

President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow him to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

Trump has cited a fraud allegation against Cook for his reasoning for firing her, but Cook has fought back, arguing that he doesn't have the authority.

A federal appeals court on Monday rejected Trump's attempt to fire Cook.

The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a 2-1 emergency ruling Monday, ahead of the central bank's start of monetary policy meetings on Tuesday.

The Fed on Wednesday announced a 0.25% rate cut in the wake of Trump's demands to do so.

The administration waited for the Fed's meeting to conclude before going to the high court. It has often sided with Trump on emergency issues.

The Fed traditionally is an independent institution that doesn't follow White House orders.

If the court agrees with Trump, it would be the first time a Fed governor was fired by a president in the central bank's 111-year history.

Trump moved to fire Cook late last month on allegations of mortgage fraud, prompting Democrats to accuse the president of conducting a power grab.

Cook challenged her removal in court, and won reinstatement. The district found that her firing likely violated the so-called for-cause provision of the Federal Reserve Act and the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

Twice since Aug. 15, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, a Powell critic, sent criminal referrals for Cook to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing Cook of mortgage fraud, alleging she listed properties she owns inconsistently on different forms. The allegations go back to before she was on the board. No charges have been filed.

Trump points to the mortgage fraud allegations as cause for her removal.

Democrats have backed Cook in the fight to keep her seat. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has been among the most vocal and has described Trump's attempt to remove Cook an "illegal authoritarian power grab."

"The courts keep rejecting Donald Trump's illegal attempt to take over the Fed so he can scapegoat away his failure to lower costs for American families," Warren said in a statement following the ruling.

"If the courts -- including the Supreme Court -- continue to uphold the law, Lisa Cook will keep her seat as a Fed governor."