WASHINGTON: A group of former US Treasury secretaries, central bank chiefs and other economic leaders have urged the Supreme Court not to allow President Donald Trump’s immediate ouster of a key Federal Reserve official.

Allowing Fed Governor Lisa Cook’s instant removal while she is still legally challenging it risks exposing the US central bank to political influences, the coalition warned in a brief.

Trump last month said he was immediately removing Cook — the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s board — over claims of mortgage fraud.

Although an appeals court ruled she could remain in her role for now, Trump has since taken his bid to fire her to the Supreme Court -- a case that could have broader ramifications.

The group of former officials and other economic leaders wrote on Thursday that granting the Trump administration’s push to remove Cook instantly from the Fed’s board would upset longstanding protections and essential functions that they serve.

“Doing so would expose the US Fed to political influences, thereby eroding public confidence in the Fed’s independence and jeopardizing the credibility and efficacy of US monetary policy,” they argued.

Those in the group include former Fed chairs Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan. Ex-Treasury secretaries such as Janet Yellen, who was in former president Joe Biden’s administration, and Henry Paulson, who served under former president George W. Bush, are also in the group.

“Maintaining the status quo while the lawfulness of the termination is adjudicated, in contrast, would serve the public’s interest by safeguarding the independence and stability of the system that governs monetary policy,” they said.

The group stressed that Congress intentionally designed the Fed as an independent entity generally separated from political pressures that could prioritize short-term economic gains over stability over the longer run.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2025