US President Donald Trump and Lisa Cook, US Federal Reserve President
Annabelle Gordon | Reuters | Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
On Thursday, lawyers for President Donald Trump asked the federal appeals court to enforce a bid to fire Federal Reserve Board Lisa Cook before the central bank’s pricing committee meets next week.
A request to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit comes two days after a lower judge prevented Trump from removing Cook from her post while her case was ongoing.
The Federal Open Market Committee, including Cook, is scheduled to convene for a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with members deciding whether to cut interest rates on the benchmark.
Trump’s lawyers for Justice Department said they hope that FOMC will issue a ruling to the Court of Appeals by Monday afternoon as “we are planning to direct the Federal Reserve public market activity and could direct the open market activity” by Tuesday, their court filings said.
Trump hopes the Fed will cut fees to drive economic growth and reduce the costs of paying the country’s debt. He has considered attacking Fed Chairman Jerome Powell frequently and attempting to fire him for refusing to lower the rate in 2025 so far.
Trump set backs the threat to Powell, but he continues to move on to Fire Cook, the appointee of former President Joe Biden, who voted for Powell and Rockstep.
Trump cited the mortgage fraud allegations advocated by his administration’s housing finance director, Bill Palt, as a reason to order Cook’s removal. He has since predicted he will soon have a “majority” to the Fed committee voting to lower interest rates. Cook refused to commit to mortgage fraud.
The filing on Thursday asks the DC Court of Appeals to stay at Tuesday’s ruling from US judge Jia Cobb who banned Cook from firing while the lawsuit against Trump continues.
“The public interest in the independence of the Federal Reserve supports Cook’s reinstatement,” Cobb wrote.
