Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Attempt to Fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

A three-judge panel issued the 2-1 order Monday, marking another major setback in Trump’s extreme effort to assert control over the Federal Reserve.

Judges Brad Garcia and J. Michelle Childs, both appointed by former President Joe Biden, wrote that Cook was denied basic due process protections when Trump tried to oust her without notice or a hearing.

“The government does not dispute that it failed to provide Cook even minimal process before she was purportedly removed,” the court wrote. “Granting the government’s request for relief when Cook has received no meaningful process would contravene [the principle that] the government may not prioritize any policy goal over the Due Process Clause.”

Because the Federal Reserve Act allows governors to be removed only “for cause,” they ruled, Cook has a protected property interest in her 14-year term — and cannot be stripped of her role without at least a chance to defend herself.

Newly surfaced documents directly contradict the accusations Trump cited as justification to remove Cook.

Records show Cook listed her Atlanta condo as a “vacation home,” never claimed a primary residence tax exemption in Georgia, and a Michigan assessor found no evidence her Ann Arbor home violated tax rules. Her attorneys have flatly stated she “did not ever commit mortgage fraud.”

The panel’s decision means Cook will remain on the Fed’s Board of Governors, which oversees interest rates and the stability of the U.S. banking system, as litigation continues. Never before in the central bank’s 111-year history has a president tried to fire a sitting governor.

The ruling comes just before the Fed’s next policy meeting, where officials are weighing a potential interest-rate cut.

At the same time, the Senate GOP narrowly confirmed Trump economic adviser Stephen Miran to the Federal Reserve Board Monday.

Miran has said he will not resign his White House post, instead taking only unpaid leave — meaning he now sits on the Fed board while still formally tied to the Trump administration.

His confirmation cements the Trump administration’s direct influence inside the central bank — a stark break from the Fed’s tradition of independence — and underscores Cook’s case as part of a broader attempt to bring the Fed under White House control.

The court’s decision builds on an earlier district court injunction that first stopped Trump’s removal order.

The White House Tuesday said it would appeal the panel’s decision to the Supreme Court.

The high court earlier this year ruled that the president could not remove members of Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors like Cook without cause because the central bank “is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States.”

This story has been updated with additional details.