Judge blocks Trump from removing Fed governor Lisa Cook

Order allows Cook to remain on Fed's board for now while her legal challenge proceeds

- Lydia Wheeler

A federal judge late on Tuesday blocked President Trump from removing Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors while a lawsuit challenging her firing proceeds.

Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, D.C., granted Cook's request for a temporary court order to keep her seat on the central bank's seven-member board for now. The decision comes just days before the Fed's next meeting, set for Sept. 16-17.

Cobb said Cook is "substantially likely" to succeed on her claim that Trump violated the Federal Reserve Act because her purported termination didn't comply with the statute's requirement that officials can only be removed for cause.

"Removal was not meant to be based on the President's assumptions about the official's future performance as extrapolated from unproven conduct dating from before they assumed the office," Cobb wrote.

The administration is likely to seek a swift appeal. It had asked the court to rule quickly on Cook's request so it would have time to challenge the decision if needed ahead of the September Fed meeting.

"This ruling recognizes and reaffirms the importance of safeguarding the independence of the Federal Reserve from illegal political interference," Cook's attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement Tuesday night.

"Allowing the President to unlawfully remove Governor Cook on unsubstantiated and vague allegations would endanger the stability of our financial system and undermine the rule of law."