A bipartisan roster of former Treasury secretaries, Federal Reserve chairs and other senior economic policymakers asked the Supreme Court to stop President Donald Trump from removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook, warning that the central bank’s independence and the economy’s stability are at risk.
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Thursday, the former officials said allowing Cook’s dismissal while she contests her firing in court would weaken safeguards Congress put in place 90 years ago to shield the Fed from political pressure. “Doing so would expose the Federal Reserve to political influences, thereby eroding public confidence in the Fed’s independence and jeopardizing the credibility and efficacy of U.S. monetary policy,” they wrote.
The signatories include every living former Fed chair — Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen — along with six former Treasury secretaries from both parties, including Henry Paulson, Robert Rubin, Lawrence Summers, Timothy Geithner and Jacob Lew. Former CEA chairs, former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm, and prominent academics such as Jason, Furman, John Cochrane, and Kenneth Rogoff also joined the brief. The filing was prepared by lawyers at Covington & Burling, a firm that has itself been a target of Trump’s criticism.
The Justice Department has asked the justices to let Trump proceed with Cook’s removal, overruling a lower-court decision that found she was likely to prevail on her claim. Chief Justice John Roberts gave Cook until 4 p.m. Thursday to respond, and the justices could issue an order on her status at any time.
Cook, appointed in 2022 by President Joe Biden, faces allegations of mortgage fraud that the White House cited as grounds for dismissal. She has continued serving in her post since late August, including when the Fed voted last week to cut interest rates for the first time since December.
The former officials cited research showing that central banks free of short-term political influence deliver lower inflation and long-term rates. “The Fed’s ability to fight inflation is directly related not only to its actual insulation from short-term political pressures but also to the public’s perception of its independence,” they argued without providing evidence to back the claim. “Because if the public and financial markets believe that the Federal Reserve is sufficiently insulated, they will act in accordance with that expectation, resulting in lower and more stable inflation, which is consistent with lower long-term interest rates.”
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