Donald Trump’s administration has asked a US appeals court to allow the president to sack Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook before the central bank’s pivotal meeting to decide interest rate policy next week.
The justice department on Thursday filed a motion with the US Court of Appeals in Washington to halt a lower court judge’s temporary halt on Trump’s attempt last month to fire Cook.
The government called on the court to rule by the close of business on September 15, a day before the Fed’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting. The central bank is on Wednesday widely expected to cut rates for the first time this year as policymakers grow increasingly worried about the jobs market.
Trump has for months insisted that the Fed should reduce rates drastically and has relentlessly criticised its chair Jay Powell, who he has called a “moron” and “stubborn mule”.
The president moved to fire Cook last month, after Bill Pulte, the federal housing director, accused her of mortgage fraud. The Financial Times previously reported that the justice department had opened an investigation into Cook, but the agency has not accused her of wrongdoing.
Cook sued Trump to halt the move, with her lawyers arguing the dismissal had been premised on “an unsubstantiated allegation”. Her attorney also said Trump’s allegations were a “mere pretext” to meet his goal of having a majority of Fed board members appointed by him.
Jia Cobb, the district judge who presided over the case in Washington, ruled late on Tuesday that Cook could not be sacked while litigation was pending. Cobb argued her attempted removal violated the Federal Reserve Act, which allows a president to dismiss a Fed governor only “for cause”.
The justice department called Cobb’s ruling “extraordinary” in its filing to the appeals court. The government added that Cobb’s order “countermanding the President’s exercise of his Article II authority rests on a series of legal errors and should be stayed pending appeal”. Article II of the US constitution vests executive power in the president.
