On a platform more accustomed to announcing tariffs than judicial defeats, Donald Trump last August declared that he had fired Lisa Cook — a Biden-appointed Federal Reserve governor with a term running until 2038 — citing unproven allegations of mortgage fraud. On Monday, the United States Supreme Court told him the dismissal could not stand, at least not yet. In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that Cook must be allowed to remain in her post while she contests the charges in court, because the president had failed to give her the procedural protections that federal statute expressly requires. The court was careful to keep the ruling narrow.

"The president failed to afford Cook the procedural protections to which she was entitled by statute," the justices wrote, noting that without such protections she had no meaningful opportunity to dispute the fraud allegations made against her. Cook, who made history as the first Black woman to serve on the Fed's Board of Governors, had denied the charges outright and filed suit against the Trump administration, arguing that no lawful cause for her removal had been established. The ruling does not permanently bar the president from pursuing the case — it simply demands that he follow the process the law prescribes. What makes the decision striking is how sharply it contrasts with the court's broader posture toward the executive branch this term.

On the very same day, the justices allowed Trump to remove Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission before her term had expired, and they had previously permitted the dismissal of a Democratic appointee from the National Labor Relations Board, leaving that body without the quorum it needs to adjudicate labor disputes.