Trump Is No King: Attorney General Bonta Celebrates Lisa Cook SCOTUS Decision

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court holding that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook could keep her position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. The decision allows Governor Cook to remain in her position on the Board while litigation in the underlying case proceeds. The Board is the primary entity that oversees the Federal Reserve System, the U.S. central bank, which is tasked with promoting financial system stability, supervising and regulating financial institutions, and promoting consumer protection. 

“Trump is no king. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court held that President Trump’s stubborn attempts to remove Governor Cook from her position on the Federal Reserve without cause are beyond his authority and unlawful. Trump’s by-all-costs removal campaign could have thrown the country into chaos and brought economic harm to states,” said Attorney General Bonta. “At a time when the president seems more interested in rewarding his friends and punishing those he views as enemies than in actually doing his job, this is a win for the Federal Reserve's institutional independence.”

BACKGROUND

Despite a lack of evidence, a premature investigation, and a District Court ruling that Governor Cook should stay in her post while the investigation proceeds, President Trump has repeatedly attempted to remove Governor Cook.

In August 2025, President Trump attempted to remove Lisa Cook from the Board of Governors “for cause.” The purported “cause” was an allegation that Governor Cook had defrauded mortgage lenders by claiming two primary residences to receive lower interest rates in 2021, prior to her appointment to the Federal Reserve. The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the matter, but the allegations have not been substantiated to date. For the Federal Reserve Board to function as Congress intended, dismissals of governors for cause must mean something more specific than an unreviewable reason left entirely to the President’s discretion. Otherwise, “for cause” then means “for whatever reason the President decides,” which is nothing more than termination at the President’s discretion because he does not like the person or the decisions the board is making — an approach to governing the U.S. financial system that Congress has rejected. In October 2025, Attorney General Bonta urged the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Governor Cook to remain in her position while the underlying case proceeds.