Not Cooked

The Supreme Court made the right decision, reports the editors of the WSJ.

… in denying President Trump the immediate power to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Trump v. Cook presents novel legal questions that deserve a full briefing and not a rushed decision on the emergency docket.

In January, the Justices Will Consider Cook’s Case

President Trump sacked Ms. Cook based on unproven allegations by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte that Cook committed mortgage fraud. She denies it and says her removal is unlawful.

“For cause” allows the president to remove governors. The problem arises, however, when the law does not define the term, for cause.

Federal Judge Jia Cobb held that the President can’t remove a Fed governor for conduct that preceded her time in office.

As the WSJ explains, “the judge also ruled that Mr. Trump violated Ms. Cook’s constitutional right to due process. A split D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld the injunction based on the second argument without deciding the first.”

“The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States,” the opinion said.

This aside isn’t a precedent, but the Justices may have been trying to deter the President from firing a Fed officer and provoking a High Court fight.

It’s no surprise, even to his fans, that President Trump plunged ahead anyway, the editors continue.

It’s a huge legal moment, and the Justices are right to flesh out historical and textual arguments that the lower courts blew past.