A Big Day for Executive Power — Except at the Fed
The Court has given the president full control of one of the three branches of constitutional government — and created a separate fourth branch in the Fed.

Two of the conservatives on the Supreme Court have sided with the three liberal justices to rule against the president's decision to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook while a lawsuit continues.President Donald Trump has been trying to fire Cook since 2025 after she was accused of committing mortgage fraud through evidence gathered from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.'Today’s decision is an unprecedented incursion on the executive branch.'On Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh ruled against the president being allowed to fire Cook while the litigation continued. Four other conservative justices dissented."Not only the fact of independence but also the appearance of independence is key to the Federal Reserve’s design," wrote Roberts in the majority opinion.He went on to assert that the president had not followed due process in firing Cook, which he indicated should have included offering an explanation for her removal, allowing her to respond, and setting up a deadline for the response. However, he also said in a footnote that the president could fire Cook if he tried again and followed due process.The president responded in a post on Truth Social."The Cook Lawsuit, having to do with her suitability in sitting on the Board of the Federal Reserve, was sent back by the Supreme Court on a strictly procedural basis," Trump wrote, "we will take appropriate action immediately to make sure that someone who has committed wrongdoing will not be making vital decisions concerning the Welfare of the United States of America!"Roberts said the ruling was necessary to maintain the independence of the Federal Reserve and to assuage the public."Any change in that scheme must come from Congress, not the courts," Roberts continued. "That is why we cannot accept the government’s contentions in this case. To do so would allow the president to remove a member of the Federal Reserve at any time, for any reason, without any notice before, and without any judicial check after.”Justice Clarence Thomas called the arguments for the independence of the Federal Reserve unconstitutional."Today’s decision is an unprecedented incursion on the executive branch," Thomas wrote in the dissent."Many do not share the court’s rosy appraisal of the past century. But if the court prefers an independent Federal Reserve Board, then its issue is not with the president but with the Constitution," he added.RELATED: Warsh approved to replace Powell as Federal Reserve head — and even 1 Democrat supports him Cook responded in a statement Monday that accused the president of acting out of political motivation."It was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure and continued to set interest rates based only on what would best serve the American people," she wrote.She has denied the allegations and has not been charged with any crime.While the president has been demanding that the Federal Reserve lower interest rates, he has backed off on that campaign after some metrics showed inflation climbing to 4%.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The Court has given the president full control of one of the three branches of constitutional government — and created a separate fourth branch in the Fed.
Today, Bloomberg's Mike McKee and June Grasso break down the Supreme Court's decision to allow Fed governor Lisa Cook to stay in her role while she fights President Trump's efforts to oust her. Then, former Governor of Indiana Eric Holcomb discusses RAISE US, a joint effort with former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo that aims to develop a strategy around AI's impact on the labor market. Plus, Kikoff CEO Cynthia Chen, breaks down how her app helps consumers build credit and improve low credit scores. (Source: Bloomberg)
The Supreme Court blocked President Trump’s attempt to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook for now while expanding his power to fire other officials. What this means for the Fed and others, on the Big Take podcast.
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann fixed on a single word in Chief Justice John Roberts' majority opinion and said it left him deeply unsettled.Reacting on air to Monday's 6-3 ruling in Trump v. Slaughter, which overturned 91 years of precedent and lets the president fire members of independent agencies without cause, Weissmann said the decision extends the theory of expansive presidential power Roberts laid out in the Trump v. United States immunity case.This time, he said, the chief justice leaned on the "vitality" and "secrecy" of the executive branch."It's hard to stress enough for people the ramifications of this decision," he told MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace on her show, "Deadline: White House."Weissmann pointed to Roberts' language that indicates his views on sweeping presidential power."Saying that it's necessary, what they ruled today, that it's necessary to have the vitality, and in a word, I found chilling, the secrecy of the executive branch. That was a word that was not in the immunity decision, and should think about that. He said the ruling "unleashes political patronage" and called it "a very ahistoric decision" with "very, very long coattails.""You do not want a Republican president to come in and fire every Democrat, and you do not want every Democratic president to come in and fire every Republican," he said. "You want career people in place with experience, who are supposed to be apolitical regardless of party."The decision drew a scathing dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote that the court handed Trump a power unknown even to the English Crown.Weissmann invoked Justice Robert Jackson, who returned from prosecuting Nazis at Nuremberg, to caution against expanding presidential power, and said the founders feared this outcome."We did not want to, and do not want to, have a king in the White House," he said.He also called the majority's appeal to originalism "laughable," citing the same-day decision sparing the Federal Reserve as proof of "a result-oriented court."The ruling was a win for Trump even as the court dealt him losses the same day, rejecting his challenge to late-arriving mail ballots and refusing to hear his E. Jean Carroll appeal.
The history and usefulness of an independent central bank is no substitute for a constitutional power to separate it from the political branches.
The Supreme Court blocked Trump’s bid to remove the Fed’s Lisa Cook for now but expanded his power over other agencies. Hear what the rulings mean for the Fed’s future on the Big Take podcast. (Source: Bloomberg)
Justices rule that Trump cannot fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered a sharp dissent from the bench on Monday after the court overturned a nearly century-old precedent on presidential firing power, arguing the majority’s decision grants President Trump and future presidents “unbridled authority” that undermines the separation of powers. “Put simply, today the majority reshapes our Government,” Sotomayor wrote in a…