In an unsigned order, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up the case of President Donald Trump and Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.
In August, Trump published a letter firing Cook from her position, accusing her of making fraudulent statements in a 2021 mortgage agreement.
“As detailed in the Criminal Referral,” Trump’s letter read, “you signed one document attesting that a property in Michigan would be your primary residence for the next year. Two weeks later, you signed another document for a property in Georgia stating that it would be your primary residence for the next year. It is inconceivable that you were not aware of your first commitment when making the second. It is impossible that you intended to honor both.”
Many experts raised concerns about the legality of Trump’s actions, noting that the allegations against Cook were unproven and related to conduct from before her tenure at the Fed.
Three days after the letter was published, Cook took the firing to court, and both a lower court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia paused Trump’s firing of the Fed governor.
This prompted Trump’s legal team to escalate the case to the Supreme Court.
Her complaint accused the president of “unprecedented and illegal” actions in pushing for her termination, “which, if allowed to occur, would be the first of its kind in the Board’s history,” Abbe Lowell, Cook’s attorney, argued in the filing.
Adding that it would violate the Federal Reserve Act, which allows removal of a governor only for cause, something like a claim about mortgage applications Cook filed before her Senate confirmation does not provide.
Cook is yet to be charged with a crime. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in January 2026, per the order. Until then, Cook can remain in office until the legal question is settled.