Civil Action Podcast

Civil Action: Supreme Court Blocks Trump’s Fed Firing

Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian break down the Supreme Court’s refusal to let Trump immediately fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, with oral arguments now set for January. The hosts expose how Trump manufactured mortgage fraud allegations despite documents showing Cook properly disclosed her Atlanta property as a “vacation home” to lenders and never claimed tax exemptions for primary residences. They reveal how every living former Fed Chair—Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, and Janet Yellen—along with former Treasury Secretaries from both parties filed briefs warning that allowing the firing would threaten Fed independence and trigger economic chaos. The attorneys explain how the 1913 Federal Reserve Act only permits removal “for cause” involving misconduct while in office, not alleged conduct before appointment, and how Trump’s claim that posting Truth Social attacks and waiting five days constitutes due process exposes his authoritarian approach to undermining the constitutional protections designed to insulate the Fed from political interference.