U.S. Supreme Court ruling preserves Fed board protections as Trump gains wider firing power

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Supreme Court Fed board ruling

Highlights

The Supreme Court rules 5-4 to preserve Federal Reserve board member protections, preventing Trump from firing Lisa Cook without cause while her dispute is pending.
A separate 6-3 Supreme Court decision overturns 90-year-old precedent, allowing Trump to remove Democratic FTC member Rebecca Slaughter and expanding White House power over independent agencies.
U.S. and Iran agree to halt retaliatory attacks in the Strait of Hormuz after recent military escalations, easing risks to shipping as negotiators prepare for talks in Doha.

Supreme Court draws a boundary around Fed independence

As reported by Financial Times, the U.S. Supreme Court issues two closely watched decisions on Monday that redefine the limits of presidential control over independent agencies. In a 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts says allowing Donald Trump to remove Fed governor Lisa Cook would let a president dismiss a Federal Reserve board member at any time, for any reason, without notice or judicial review.

The decision leaves in place a lower-court order that keeps Cook in her job while a dispute over her conduct is resolved. The case stems from Trump's effort last August to remove Cook after ally Bill Pulte produced documents that he said showed Cook had claimed primary residence status on two properties; Cook denies the allegations and has not been charged.

In a separate 6-3 decision, however, the court clears the way for Trump to remove Democratic Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter without cause. That ruling overturns a 90-year-old precedent that had protected agency commissioners from at-will dismissal.

Broader regulatory and geopolitical impact

The agency ruling gives the White House much greater leverage over independent bodies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and agencies responsible for compiling economic statistics. Trump presents the day as a win, calling the FTC decision a "BIG WIN" for presidential power and describing the Cook ruling as a limited procedural setback that does not stop him from pursuing the case.

Separately, the U.S. and Iran agree to halt reciprocal attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, easing concern that the latest clashes could destabilize a fragile ceasefire. A U.S. official says both sides will stand down for now, allowing vessels to move through the waterway while technical negotiations continue over the memorandum of understanding signed on June 17.

Trump says on Truth Social that Tehran has requested a meeting, and the White House says envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Doha this week for high-level talks. Iran signals more caution, with deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi saying reports of technical working-group sessions in Doha remain unconfirmed and depend on agreement over timing and venue.

A diplomat briefed on the matter says negotiators will meet this week, focusing first on the strait before moving to a broader agenda. The diplomacy follows a weekend escalation in which U.S. forces strike Iranian surveillance, communications, air defense, drone storage and minelaying assets after Iranian attacks on the container ship Ever Lovely and the crude tanker Kiku, while Iran's Revolutionary Guards respond by targeting eight U.S. installations in Kuwait and the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

In our earlier article on the Supreme Court’s FTC removal-power ruling, we explained that the justices broadened presidential authority by striking down “for-cause” protections for FTC commissioners and overturning long-standing precedent. We noted the decision could ripple across a wide range of independent agencies with similar statutory safeguards, while also highlighting that the court treated the Federal Reserve differently by preserving protections for its governing board.

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