Search
Items tagged with: SCOTUS
That said, there’s no guarantee here∶ #SCOTUS under Chief Justice #JohnRoberts has shown itself willing to create new & unprecedented legal immunities for #federal misconduct without a scintilla of historical support. It could always do so here too.
#SCOTUS is likely to do the right thing in the Lisa Cook case. But it's worth bearing in mind that this idea that the Fed is some bespoke exception to the unitary executive theory is utterly incoherent as a matter of both law and history—and is really just proof that the UET is itself bollocks:
153. Living by the Ipse Dixit
A constitutional principle like the "unitary executive theory" isn't worth all that much if the Supreme Court can conjure new, unprincipled exceptions to it by simply asserting that they exist.Steve Vladeck (One First)
Another @nytimes.com@bsky.brid.gy #SCOTUS roundtable with @kateshaw.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy, @williambaude.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy, and me—this one on yesterday’s (one-sided) oral argument in the Lisa Cook / Fed independence case: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/o...
#Trump has made clear he wants the chance to stack the nation’s #CentralBank with #political #loyalists. In court, the admin has strenuously steered clear of this rhetoric. Outside of court, though, Trump has repeatedly boasted about the changes he hopes to bring to the #Fed.
#law #FederalReserve #economy #independence #SCOTUS #authoritarianism
nytimes.com/2026/01/21/us/poli…
The justices have signaled that the #Fed may be uniquely protected from presidential meddling, even as the court’s conservative majority has allowed #Trump to fire leaders of other #independent #FederalAgencies.
#law #FederalReserve #economy #independence #SCOTUS #authoritarianism
The #FederalReserve sets #MonetaryPolicy & #InterestRates, among other duties, & when #Congress established it, lawmakers worked to insulate it from #political #influence. Its leaders have 14-year terms & may be removed only “for cause.” But #Trump has increasingly attacked the #Fed, pressuring it to lower interest rates as well as trying to push out its chair, #JeromePowell, & fire board governor #LisaCook.
During the oral arguments, Justice Brett M. #Kavanaugh pressed Trump’s representative, Solicitor General D. John #Sauer, over the idea that a victory for #Trump could allow future admins to try to dismiss #Fed officials “at will.” [because, it’s only okay if this admin does it 🤦🏼♀️]
In the first hour, the justices sounded wary of siding with Trump’s view that he should have full discretion to decide what actions are grounds for removal.
I listened to Trump’s #WEF speech when I should have been listening to oral arguments at #SCOTUS.
The Supreme Court repeatedly questioned a lawyer for the #Trump admin about whether the president exceeded his authority in firing #LisaCook, a member of the #FederalReserve board, in a case with potentially enormous consequences for the #economy.