At issue in Trump v Cook is not whether Lisa Cook can appeal her removal, but rather where her position rests while the appeal is underway. Does she work for the govt? Or is she technically removed from govt, pending appeal?
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lisa Cook remaining in her position as a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors whom President Donald Trump had attempted to fire. By a vote of 5-4 [PDF HERE] [the court says Cook can continue to remain in her job while her challenge to Trump’s removal moves forward.
Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court, and SOTOMAYOR, KAGAN, KAVANAUGH and JACKSON concurred.
Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion. ALITO filed a dissenting opinion, in which GORSUCH joined, and BARRETT also filed a dissenting opinion.
This is a rather goofball decision when you consider the previous issues with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the high court prior ruling that President Trump can remove the head of the agency.
Additionally, if Lisa Cook does not work for the President of the United States, meaning if she doesn’t work for the Executive Branch, then who exactly is she working for? She doesn’t work for the legislative branch, and she doesn’t work for the judicial branch. Therefore, a de facto mysterious 4th branch of government is created.
Writing the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said if the Trump administration were correct, it “would in effect transform the Federal Reserve’s for-cause protection into at-will employment, an leap out of step with the statute Congress enacted and our Nation’s tradition of central banking protected from political interference.”
Justice Clarence Thomas said the 5-4 ruling was “incorrect.” “Although the Court expresses concern that the President removed a Board member for ‘the first time in the Federal Reserve’s 111-year history, it expresses no such concern that it today upholds an injunction [here] against the President’s removal of an executive officer for the first time in the Constitution’s 237-year history.”
If the Federal Reserve Board of Governors are not subject to the plenary power of the executive branch, then who controls it? If no one, then the Federal Reserve Board (FED) exists to control the American economy without any oversight from any mechanism within the U.S. Constitution.
The federal reserve is a fourth branch of government?
This decision seems rather weird….. Especially when the next ruling is considered.
