WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to put U.S. President Donald Trump's firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook into effect.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in an application that the lower court's decisions "flout many strands of this Court's precedents," local media reported Thursday.
The application may spark a high-stake battle at the Supreme Court over the independence of the Fed.
Trump fired Cook on Aug. 25 over alleged mortgage fraud. Cook denied any wrongdoing and filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 28. A judge ruled on Sept. 9, temporarily blocking Trump's removal of Cook.
The Trump administration then took the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ahead of the Fed meeting, but the court rejected Trump's bid to remove Cook on Monday, just hours before the Fed's two-day meeting kicked off.
Cook participated in the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on Tuesday and Wednesday, and joined the majority in voting for a quarter-point cut.
Being an appointee of former U.S. President Joe Biden, Cook has served on the Fed since being appointed to complete another member's unexpired term in 2022, and her current term would run until 2038. ■