No president since 1913 had tried to oust a Fed governor. The court just drew the line.
The US Supreme Court drew a line around the US Federal Reserve on Monday, ruling that no president can fire its governors at will, even as it handed the White House sweeping new power to remove the leaders of other federal agencies.
In a 5-4 decision, the court blocked US President Donald Trump from firing Fed governor Lisa Cook while her lawsuit proceeds, according to CNBC.
The ruling does not settle whether Trump can ever remove her, but it rejected his bid to pause a lower court order that had kept her in place.
The outcome matters well beyond one governor.
As Reuters reported, the decision definitively protects Fed officials from being fired at will, preserving the independence of the institution that sets the cost of credit for the United States and beyond.
No president since the central bank's founding in 1913 had tried to oust a Fed governor.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the majority opinion, framed the stakes in terms of confidence in the institution.
"Not only the fact of independence but also the appearance of independence is key to the Federal Reserve's design," he wrote, per CNBC.
He added that the court saw "no reason to leave the public in limbo, or to sow doubt as to the status of one of our Nation's (and the world's) most important financial institutions."
Roberts said any change to the Fed's structure must come from lawmakers.
According to CNBC, he wrote that accepting Trump's position would let the president remove a Federal Reserve member at will.
It would allow removal "at any time, for any reason," with "no notice before" and "no judicial check after."
Under the Federal Reserve Act, a president can remove a governor only "for cause," a threshold the court said should be substantial.
Investors and economists have read Trump's pressure on the Fed as an effort to force lower interest rates.
Trump has pressed the central bank to cut rates faster as it fights persistent inflation, Reuters reported.
In a statement cited by CNBC, Cook called the move against her political, "an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext" for refusing to bow to pressure.
Trump moved to fire Cook in August 2025, citing unproven mortgage fraud allegations that she denied, Reuters reported.
The court found he failed to give her the due process owed under federal law, leaving the door open to a fresh attempt.
According to CNBC, any new move would require Trump to explain the evidence, let Cook respond and set a deadline.
The court did not decide the underlying factual dispute, which now returns to the lower courts.
Trump signalled he would try again.
The case "was sent back by the Supreme Court on a strictly procedural basis, we will take appropriate action immediately," he wrote on Truth Social..
The win for Fed independence was narrow.
The same day, the court ruled 6-3 to back Trump's firing of Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, clearing the way for presidents to remove FTC members without cause and expanding White House control over independent agencies, according to the Financial Times.
In doing so, the court overturned its 1935 Humphrey's Executor precedent, Reuters reported.
Trump called that ruling "one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers."
Cook, appointed by former president Joe Biden in 2022, has a term running to 2038 and helps set US monetary policy alongside the rest of the seven-member board and the 12 regional Fed bank heads.
She has remained in her seat throughout the dispute.
Monday's rulings followed the court's February 20 decision striking down most of Trump's global tariffs, the Financial Times noted, marking the latest in a series of clashes between the administration and the bench.
