Powell To Attend As Supreme Court To Review Trump's Firing Of Fed Governor Lisa Cook

Powell To Attend As Supreme Court To Review Trump's Firing Of Fed Governor Lisa Cook

The Supreme Court on Wednesday are expected to review the legality of President Donald Trump's firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook last August over allegations of mortgage fraud.
cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inl…

In a letter to Cook, Trump cited a provision of the Federal Reserve act of 1913 which allows a president to fire members "for cause."

Cook challenged the firing, and after a lower court storage.courtlistener.com/reca…
her, Trump asked the Supreme Court to intervene. During today's oral arguments, the justices are expected to probe several legal issues - including whether the mortgage allegations constitute the sort of cause that allows firings under the Federal Reserve Act.

Of note, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is planning to attend - which US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said would be a mistake.

Powell's plan to ​attend the court's oral arguments is a potent symbol of the administration's ongoing clash with the Fed following U.S. Department of Justice threats to pursue a criminal investigation of him. Powell called the threat a "pretext" to pressure ‍him over monetary policy. -reuters.com/world/us/bessent-s…

"I actually think that's a mistake," Bessent told CNBC. "If you're trying not to politicize the Fed, for the Fed chair to be sitting there, trying to put his thumb on the ⁠scale, is a real mistake."

The Alleged Fraud

Cook was slapped with a criminal referral on Aug. 15 by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) chairman Bill Pulte, who alleged that Cook lied on one of her mortgage agreements - specifically representing it as her primary residence.

As the theepochtimes.com/us/supreme-c…
a letter to Cook informing her of her termination. “At a minimum, the conduct at issue exhibits the sort of gross negligence in financial transactions that calls into question your competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator,” he said.

After Cook sued, a federal judge in Washington reinstated her. In a more tentative order, the judge said that Trump probably didn’t have a valid cause for firing Cook.

Under this judge’s storage.courtlistener.com/reca…
, for Trump to fire Cook, he would have to do so for a reason related to an unfaithful execution of her statutory duties while she was in office. Cook’s alleged fraud took place before she began serving at the Federal Reserve.

Trump has asked the Supreme Court to lift this block while litigation continues in lower courts. Typically, these types of appeals, which come on the emergency docket, are decided without oral argument. In this case, however, the Supreme Court deferred its decision until it heard arguments.

The Justice Department told the Supreme Court in September 2025 that not only was Trump’s cause sufficient, but that courts didn’t have the authority to review his determination of that cause.

Reinstating Officials

Separate from Congress’s phrasing, the power of judges to reinstate fired officials is also under scrutiny in both Cook’s case and another case that was heard in December 2025.

For months, lower court judges have been reversing Trump’s firings of high-level bureaucrats. In response, the Trump administration argued that doing so was overstepping judicial authority and that the more appropriate remedy to illegal firings was back pay.

The Supreme Court is expected to address that issue in Trump v. Slaughter, which focused on the president’s ability to fire members of the Federal Trade Commission.

It’s unclear how they will rule, and they didn’t focus much on the issue during oral argument on Dec. 8, 2025. But in its emergency docket decisions, the Supreme Court has indicated some sympathy for Trump’s position.

Cook’s case is unique for multiple reasons, including that it raises questions about whether officials have a constitutional right to their positions in the federal government. In a briefing to the Supreme Court, Cook constitution.congress.gov/cons…
the Fifth Amendment, which says the government cannot take away someone’s property without due process.

The lower court in Washington said that Cook had a property interest in her position and that Trump failed to provide the necessary due process before removing her. Specifically, the judge said that Trump needed to provide some kind of notice and hearing for Cook.

In response, the Justice Department noted that Trump waited five days before dismissing her after notifying her of the charges. Solicitor General D. John Sauer also supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/…
that offices like Cook’s were property and that requiring a notice and hearing would “wreak havoc on sensitive presidential decision-making.”

Federal Reserve Independence

What also makes Cook’s case unique, and what may give her an edge over other federal officials, is how the Supreme Court views the Federal Reserve’s independence.

Last year, a majority of the justices temporarily allowed Trump to remove the heads of two labor boards who had tried to compare their agencies to the Federal Reserve. Allowing Trump’s firings, which overrode similar laws restricting removals, would effectively call into question the independence of the Federal Reserve.

A majority of the justices theepochtimes.com/us/fed-gover…
this comparison, stating that 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.”

Cook has referenced that language while warning about the purported implications of Trump’s firing. Her attorneys supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/…
in September 2025 that the Supreme Court’s earlier recognition of the Fed’s independence “would have little meaning if a ‘for cause’ restriction gave the President unreviewable discretion to simply deem any governor ‘unfit to serve’ based on anything he deems ’misconduct.'”

Allowing Trump to fire Cook, they said, “would sound the death knell for the central-bank independence that has helped make the United States’ economy the strongest in the world.”

Trump, meanwhile, has underscored the nature of his authority under Article II of the Constitution, which constitutioncenter.org/the-con…
the federal government’s executive power in the president.

“Article II allows the President to determine what process to follow when removing executive officers, and courts cause irreparable harm to the separation of powers when they wrongly usurp that authority,” the Justice Department said in its brief.

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Wed, 01/21/2026 - 09:25

zerohedge.com/political/suprem…

✨ L'abbraccio nel 2026...

Cos'è un abbraccio?
Affetto, stima, rispetto, un gesto d'amore, di amicizia, un grande dono che regala emozioni!
L'abbraccio non ha età, sesso, appartenenza, tutti lo vogliono, lo cercano o ne hanno bisogno, grandi e piccoli, nonni e bambini, ma in pochi hanno il coraggio di chiederlo e di donarlo! Eppure l' abbraccio è spontaneo, sincero, non si può fingere o farlo su commissione, perché nasce nei cuori di un amore, di un' amicizia, di chi ama, di chi soffre...
L' abbraccio è un dono incondizionato di una madre per il proprio bimbo, al quale dà protezione e amore.
L'abbraccio non ha prezzo, ma può valere molto, può raccogliere e poi raccontare ciò che le parole
non hanno il coraggio di rivelare,
può trasmettere emozioni, amore , passione, speranze, sogni e delusioni! In questi tristi anni, durante la pandemia, gli abbracci si sono persi, così anche i sogni e le speranze...Eppure un abbraccio può farci rinascere, regalare emozioni e sensazioni spesso irripetibili!
E in esso ci si può perdere e ritrovare al tempo stesso, si può soffrire e anche guarire e curare dolori o nostalgia!
L'abbraccio è come il vento, vola, si diffonde, annulla vuoti e distanze,
soffoca rancori, cresce e si moltiplica
vicino ai nostri cuori...

Ed io ci credo alla sua forza,
credo ancora che oggi sia un bene prezioso, in un mondo sempre più virtuale e digitale, dove il contatto, l'emozione, la sensazione e il benessere che sa regalare un abbraccio stanno diventando parte di un passato ormai dimenticato!

#Chachat #Mastocat

Our haiku prompts for 17-24 Jan

Every day, a new challenge.

Feel free to use whatever form of the idea the prompt suggests.

North South
01/17 Turnip Lotus
01/18 Chestnuts Rain
01/19 Snow House Fly
01/20 Smoke Moth
01/21 Quiet Fuchsia
01/22 Sparrow Meadow
01/23 Mountain Evening Rain
01/24 Blizzard Light Clothes

At the end of the year
In a busy time
I was lost in thought
--Sugita Hisajo

#DailyHaikuPrompt

“The #AI revolution can’t happen if we all don’t believe hard enough in it” sounds like the motivational speech you’d hear from a cult leader rather than in #Davos.

And perhaps the current vision for AI outlined by American Big Tech starts to have more the features of an oligopolist cult rather than a genuine technological movement for human progress.

Just because #Satya and his friends have invested trillions to build a new shiny toy, it doesn’t mean that we’re all supposed to use it, that we’re all supposed to use it the way they want, and use only the version of the toy that they have built.

Technological progress happens when many competing implementations and visions are tested by consumers, when consumers have options and when they have the final say.

Not when a billionaire says from a stage that we should all believe in what he has built.

Even a libertarian here would probably acknowledge that this doctrine of coerced induced demand is exactly the opposite of what capitalism is supposed to be.

irishtimes.com/business/2026/0…

(Archived version: archive.is/0VrLp)

AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns

Big tech boss tells delegates at Davos that broader global use is essential if technology is to deliver lasting growth

^{Melissa Heikkilä (The Irish Times)}

Based on your accent, which has a better mouth feel?

#Anglosphere #AskFedi

• An Historic (28%, 4 votes)
• A Historic (71%, 10 votes)

For anyone who likes to watch Mastodon server patch status in near real-time, the #vmstio vmcrawl dashboard is now public (without needing authentication) for all your version tracking pleasures docs.vmst.io/vmcrawl

#mastoadmin

Smartphones Xiaomi ficarão mais caros no Brasil? Empresa explica crise de RAM
https://www.tecmundo.com.br/produto/410014-smartphones-xiaomi-ficarao-mais-caros-no-brasil-empresa-explica-crise-de-ram.htm?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into TecMundo @tecmundo-TecMundo

Trump: negoziati per avere Groenlandia

#Televideo #Ultimora #Italy

Quanto tempo demora para ver os três Senhor Dos Anéis nos cinemas? Veja duração
https://www.tecmundo.com.br/minha-serie/602916-quanto-tempo-demora-para-ver-os-tres-senhor-dos-aneis-nos-cinemas-veja-duracao.htm?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into TecMundo @tecmundo-TecMundo

Cdp colloca 1,30% di azioni proprie per 400 milioni - Notizie - Ansa.it
https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/economia/2026/01/21/cdp-colloca-130-di-azioni-proprie-per-400-milioni_3901dc68-0a26-495d-8530-fc472487f591.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Pubblicato su Economia @economia-AgenziaAnsa

Cdp colloca 1,30% di azioni proprie per 400 milioni - Notizie - Ansa.it

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti comunica l'avvenuto collocamento di tutte le 4.451.160 azioni proprie in portafoglio, pari all'1,30% del capitale sociale, per un controvalore di circa 400 milioni di euro. (ANSA)

^{Agenzia ANSA}

Google is *spending* a lot on AI, but what's not clear is how Google will *make* a lot from AI. Or, you know, even break even. Given, you know, that businesses are seeing *zero* return from AI:

theregister.com/2026/01/20/pwc…

--

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2026/01/21/cod…

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