Jul 6, 2026
The Federal Reserve’s separation from the executive branch has been solidified — at least for now.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump couldn’t immediately oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from the central bank over baseless allegations of mortgage fraud. The high court said in its 5-4 decision that Cook hadn’t received due process when Trump fired her in a social media post last August.
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“At minimum, Cook was entitled to some explanation of the evidence at issue, some avenue for a response,” Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.
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Part of the justices’ reasoning, however, was an interest in maintaining the Fed’s independence given “the calamities that could arise from even the ‘suspicion’ of political manipulation of monetary policy.”
The decision was not a full-blown win for Cook either. What the Supreme Court decided was to allow Cook to continue serving in her post as a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) while the president continued seeking her removal. The high court is simply attempting to ensure Cook has an opportunity to fight the accusations leveled against her. She flatly rejected the White House’s assertions.
“It was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure,” Cook said in a statement shortly after the June 29 ruling, adding she would keep deciding interest rates “based only on what would best serve the American people.”
How Supreme Court justices made their money in 2025
Book deals, lucrative teaching gigs — and free tickets to a Bad Bunny concert.
Late last month, the Supreme Court released the justices’ annual financial disclosures, offering a snapshot of how they earned income in 2025. Those were released for eight of the nine justices, while Justice Samuel Alito was granted a 90-day extension to file his disclosures. The filings have generated additional scrutiny in recent years since some justices failed to disclose lavish trips and other perks received while serving their lifetime appointments.
Nearly half of the Supreme Court drew significant income from book royalties. Four justices earned over $2 million moonlighting as authors in 2025. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — part of the court’s liberal wing — reported a $1.2 million book advance from Penguin Random House, which published her memoir in 2024.
Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett pulled in $849,000 in book royalties for her 2025 memoir “Listening to the Law.” Then Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor earned $89,000 in royalties from a pair of children’s books.
Sotomayor also disclosed accepting $4,333 in concert tickets from Rimas Entertainment — known as Bad Bunny’s record label — during a “private trip” to Puerto Rico last year. The disclosure, though, didn’t specifically list the tickets for a Bad Bunny performance.
Other justices listed teaching gigs in their disclosures. Justice Neal Gorsuch earned $30,000 teaching at George Mason University.
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After Watergate, Congress passed a law mandating members of Congress and judges to disclose their outside income, travel and any gifts they receive. The roster of officials also includes Supreme Court justices.
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What’s next at the Fed
Cook isn’t in the clear yet. Trump has made clear his continued interest in removing her and won’t be easing off the pressure campaign anytime soon.
Asked how he’d achieve his goal of removing Cook, Trump told CNBC last week: “By winning the case.”
“So we’ll start the process, and we’ll do perfect process and perfect procedure,” he said. Litigation in the Cook case could stretch on for months or even years.
The stakes remain high. And the Supreme Court left plenty of unanswered questions in its decision that allows Cook to remain in her job for now. For example, lower courts will be left to settle the specific legal circumstances under which a president could remove a Fed official for “just cause,” which hasn’t been fully defined.
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Joseph Zeballos-Roig is a policy and politics journalist based in Washington D.C with a focus on economics. He is experienced in connecting the significance of events in the capital to the lives of everyday Americans whether its taxes, tariffs, interest rates or federal programs.
