No firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook – yet

No firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook – yet

The Federal appeals court just ruled against the president’s firing of Fed governor Lisa Cook. The ruling was 2-1 and upheld the decision of the lower court whose judge, Jia Cobb (a Biden appointee) ruled that Cook was “substantially likely” to succeed with a claim that her firing was unlawful and blocked her removal. Judges Bradley Garcia and Michelle Childs both Biden appointees were in the majority while Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee, dissented. Garcia and Childs said that there was merit in the argument by Cook’s attorney that she wasn’t given proper notice or opportunity to respond to her firing. Katsas disagreed saying that if Cook were entitled to a hearing before removal, the adequacy of that process could be challenged and take months or years to resolve. Katsas wrote. “And that would enable a potentially compromised Governor to engage in significant governmental action—such as voting on whether to adjust interest rates.”

Interestingly, Cook has yet to be charged with a crime and despite documents produced by Bill Pulte the Federal Housing Finance director alleging mortgage fraud, other documents show otherwise. Of course, the Trump administration will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Regardless of the outcome of this case, I find it disheartening that these rulings appear to be partisan further indicating that the law is now blind even at the highest judicial levels.