Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that a Supreme Court showdown over sitting Fed governor Lisa Cook could have far-reaching consequences for the central bank\u2019s independence and the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n
‘I would say that that case is perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed’s 113-year history. As I thought about it, it might have been hard to explain why I didn\u2019t attend,’ Powell told reporters Wednesday at the Federal Reserve<\/u>.<\/p>\n
‘Paul Volcker famously attended a Supreme Court case in, I guess, 1985 or so, so there is precedent,’ Powell said, referring to the former Federal Reserve chair who served under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Last week, the nation’s highest court heard oral arguments for two hours on whether President Donald Trump<\/u> has the authority to remove Cook from the Federal Reserve\u2019s Board of Governors. The court is expected to issue a ruling in the case by summer.<\/p>\n
Cook’s legal fight traces back to late August, when Trump said he was firing her<\/u> from the board.<\/p>\n
He alleged she misrepresented information related to a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the central bank. Cook has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
She sued Trump<\/u> in federal court in Washington, D.C., to block her removal. On Sept. 9, a district court judge barred Trump from firing her while the case proceeds, a decision later upheld by a federal appeals court.<\/p>\n
Her ascent to the Federal Reserve was historic from the start. Appointed by former President Joe <\/u>Biden<\/u> in 2022, she became the first Black woman to serve as a Fed board governor, the seven-member panel that sets national interest rates and oversees the banking system.<\/p>\n
Now, she stands at the center of an even more consequential moment, as Trump seeks to fire her \u2014 a step that would be unprecedented in the Fed\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
What’s more, Powell\u2019s long-standing insistence on finishing his term<\/u>, which ends in May, now comes amid a Justice Department criminal investigation into his congressional testimony on the Federal Reserve\u2019s headquarters renovation.<\/p>\n
Powell confirmed the investigation and said he respected the rule of law and congressional oversight, but described the action as ‘unprecedented’ and driven by political pressure.<\/p>\n
Asked by reporters at the Federal Reserve for further comment, Powell declined to discuss the Justice Department investigation, pointing instead to remarks he made in a video statement on Jan. 11.<\/p>\n
His decision to address the issue so publicly, after days of private consultations with advisors, marked a sharp departure from the central banker\u2019s typically measured approach.<\/p>\n
What comes next remains unclear, as the Federal Reserve navigates largely uncharted territory.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that a Supreme Court showdown over sitting Fed governor Lisa Cook could have far-reaching consequences for the central bank\u2019s independence and the U.S. economy. ‘I would say that that case is perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed’s 113-year history. As I thought about it, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web3anchor.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}