The Fed’s Jerome Powell plans to attend Supreme Court argument on Lisa Cook case, says source

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will attend the Supreme Court’s oral argument Wednesday in a case involving the attempted firing of Fed governor Lisa Cook, an unusual show of support by the central bank chair.

The high court is considering whether President Donald The President can fire Cook, as he said he would do in late August, in an unprecedented attempt to remove one of the seven members of the Fed’s governing board. Powell plans to attend the high court’s Wednesday session, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It’s a much more public show of support than the Fed chair has previously shown Cook. But it follows Powell’s announcement last week that the The President administration has sent subpoenas to the Fed, threatening an unprecedented criminal indictment of the Fed Chair. Powell — appointed to the position by The President in 2018 — appears to be casting off last year’s more subdued response to The President’s repeated attacks on the central bank in favor of a more public confrontation.

Powell issued a video statement Jan. 11 condemning the subpoenas as “pretexts” for The President’s efforts to force him to sharply cut the Fed’s key interest rate. Powell oversaw three rate cuts late last year, lowering the rate to about 3.6%, but The President has argued it should be as low as 1%, a position few economists support.

The The President administration has accused Cook of mortgage fraud, an allegation that Cook has denied. No charges have been made against Cook. She sued to keep her job, and the Supreme Court Oct. 1 issued a brief order allowing her to stay on the board while they consider her case.

If The President succeeds in removing Cook, he could appoint another person to fill her slot, which would give his appointees a majority on the Fed’s board and greater influence over the central bank’s decisions on interest rates and bank regulation.

—Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer

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