Supreme Court faces the Fed: Round 1

On January 21, 2026, the Supreme Court heard the next and perhaps most significant case testing the president’s power to summarily terminate any member of the executive branch and personally control the economy.

Fed member’s dismissal disputed

The full extent of the unitary executive theory is being tested as the Court reviews the termination of Lisa Cook from her position as a member of the seven-person Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. As is the case with other members of the Federal Reserve, Cook is supposedly protected from dismissal except “for cause” and is also guaranteed certain due process rights. In this case, the president summarily fired her based on unsubstantiated claims of mortgage fraud, generated by Bill Pulte, a Trump loyalist now chairing the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The fraud allegations arise from paperwork for loans that Cook took out in 2021— before she joined the Fed—and echo claims that Trump officials have probed in connection with other high-profile Democrats.

To date, Cook hasn’t been formally charged with any crime or violation. She has denied all wrongdoing and maintained, in any event, that outdated conduct not related to her job performance cannot provide cause for removal. She also maintains she has been denied an opportunity to defend herself before being summarily dismissed, in contravention of the law.