Hearing for Fed Governor Lisa Cook’s Lawsuit Against Trump Turns out to Be a Nothingburger

Cook was fired by Trump on Monday after the president’s Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency accused her of mortgage fraud earlier in the month.

Much-Anticipated Hearing in Lisa Cook’s Trump Lawsuit Fails to Deliver Fireworks

Many were anticipating some sort of ruling by Judge Jia Cobb on Friday after U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook sued President Donald Trump for firing her without cause, but Cobb refrained from issuing a decision on the matter. Instead, the Biden-appointed judge listened to Cook’s lawyer Abbe Lowell and Department of Justice (DOJ) Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth, battle it out for two hours before requesting additional written arguments from both men by next Tuesday.

Lowell’s main goal appeared to be obtaining a temporary restraining order against the president to allow Cook to continue with her duties as a Fed governor while the suit plays out in court. Roth attempted to convince Judge Cobb that not only does Trump have sufficient “cause” to remove Cook, but also, the president’s decision to do so should not be “subject to judicial review.”

But Cobb didn’t seem particularly swayed by either position, requesting further rationale in writing from both parties. “What if the stated cause is demonstrably false?” she asked Roth, after he suggested that courts shouldn’t second-guess the president’s decisions. “I’m uncomfortable with the pretext argument,” Cobb responded to Lowell, after he accused Trump of using the fraud allegations as a mere pretext for stacking the Fed Board with his handpicked loyalists.

“There was never cause to begin, and it’s just their efforts to get rid of governors … so the president can have a majority,” Lowell said.