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President Trump is appealing a federal judge's decision that blocked him from firing Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board.
Trump filed a brief notice in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia saying he would appeal Judge Jia M. Cobb's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The timing of the case is crucial since the Fed is scheduled to meet September 16-17 and is expected to vote on whether to lower interest rates at that meeting.
Cobb had ruled that Trump could not fire Cook, a Biden Administration appointee. Cobb also was appointed by Biden.
"President Trump has not identified anything related to Cook's conduct or job performance as a Board member that would indicate that she is harming the Board or the public interest by executing her duties unfaithfully or ineffectively," Cobb ruled. Cobb issued a preliminary injunction ordering that Cook remain on the board.
She ruled, among other things, that Cook could only be removed for cause and that the allegations against her do not constitute that. She said the "for cause" provision for removal of a Fed Governor is limited to the Governor's behavior in office.
She also ruled that Cook should have been given notice of and an opportunity to answer the allegations against her before she was terminated.
The Trump Administration has charged that Cook made false statements on mortgage applications for a home in Michigan and a condominium in Georgia. The applications were filed before Cook was nominated to the Board by Biden.
FHFA Director Bill Pulte has accused Cook of mortgage fraud, saying she had listed both properties as her primary residence. A property in Massachusetts later was added to the allegations. The Justice Department has reportedly opened a mortgage fraud investigation.
Cook has denied the mortgage fraud allegations.
Trump last month ordered Cook removed from the board, citing the investigation.
Cook then filed suit, alleging that there was no basis for her removal, that she was entitled to notice and an opportunity to answer the charges before she was terminated, which she did not receive, and that her removal was politically motivated.
Cook is just one of several appointees who have been removed by the Trump Administration without cause; several have filed suit.
Unlike many of those cases, the Trump Administration never argued that Trump had the right to fire Cook without cause. That strategy was likely predicated on the fact that the Supreme Court stated in dictum in a case involving the firing of another Democratic member of another agency that, while the President may be able to fire members of governing boards of other federal agencies, the President cannot fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board without cause.
Most recently, Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay allowing President Trump to fire recently reinstated FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, even though she was fired without cause.
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