La Jornada: Supreme Court rejects Trump’s attempt to fire a Fed governor

Washington. The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday that President Donald Trump cannot summarily fire a governor of the Federal Reserve, an independent body, but he can do so in the case of a federal agency under his authority.

Two simultaneous rulings, in a decisive week by the Supreme Court, redefined the limits of presidential power.

In a close decision of five votes in favor and four against, the highest judicial authority in the country ruled that Lisa Cook, governor of the Federal Reserve, accused by the government of alleged fraud when she requested a real estate loan, could not be fired by Trump, “for any reason or no reason.”

The decision, announced by the president amid a campaign of harassment to get the Federal Reserve to cut its interest rates, was blocked by a lower court.

Presidents can remove Fed governors “for cause,” but the court ruled that Trump “failed to provide Cook with the procedural safeguards to which he was entitled by law.”

Cook had allegedly declared two primary residences, one in Michigan and one in Georgia, to process a loan, but his attorneys say that was a mistake. The current majority of the Supreme Court is conservative, which in recent years has tipped the balance towards the Trump administration, but that situation is not always repeated.

In another important case for the magnate, that of voting by mail, conservative judges Amy Coney Barrett and John Roberts joined progressives to inflict a tough defeat on Republicans.

Mississippi had ruled that absentee ballots will be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrived within five business days of the vote. “Federal law dictates when ballots must be issued; state law governs when they must be received,” Barrett said.