Federal Reserve independence secures an important, but not final, victory at US Supreme Court

The court's ruling against Trump's firing of Fed board member Lisa Cook came on the same day that it further cemented his sweeping powers to fire other senior government officials. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The Federal Reserve, under pressure from President Donald Trump to cut interest rates and bend to his will, just got an important assist from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In Trump v. Cook, the justices took up the case involving Trump’s decision to terminate Lisa Cook, a member of the powerful policymaking Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. On June 29, 2026, Cook and the Fed prevailed. In a 5-4 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court upheld a lower court’s decision to keep Cook in her role while her case proceeds on whether she was terminated “for cause.”