US Fed Chair Powell to attend Supreme Court session on Cook case: Report

In an unusual display of support from the chair of the central bank, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at the Supreme Court’s oral argument in a case involving the Fed governor’s&nbsp, attempted firing&nbsp, of course.

In an unprecedented attempt to remove one of the seven members of the Fed’s governing board, the high court is considering whether US President Donald Trump can fire Cook, as he promised to do in late August. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Powell plans to attend the high court’s Wednesday session.

The Fed chair has previously shown Cook more public support than it has shown. However, it comes in response to Powell’s announcement last week that the Trump administration had issued subpoenas to the Fed, threatening an unprecedented criminal indictment of the chair. Powell appears to be reversing Trump’s less-than-distant approach to the central bank in favor of a more public dispute now that Trump has been appointed to the position in 2018.

On January 11, Powell condemned the subpoenas as “pretexts” for Trump’s attempts to slash the Fed’s key interest rate in a video statement released on January 11. Few economists agree with Powell’s recommendation that the rate should be as low as 3%, but Trump has argued that this should be as low as 1%, which he oversaw three rate cuts late last year.

Cook has denied the accusations made by the Trump administration regarding mortgage fraud. Cook has not been charged. She filed a lawsuit to keep her job, and the Supreme Court granted her a brief stay of office while the case was being considered.