AdvertisementThe justices declined to immediately decide a Justice Department request to put on hold a judge’s order temporarily blocking the Republican president from removing Cook, an appointee of Democratic former president Joe Biden. It deferred a resolution on that request until the justices have heard the arguments. Washington-based US District Judge Jia Cobb on September 9 ruled that Trump’s claims that Cook committed mortgage fraud before taking office, which Cook denies, likely were not sufficient grounds for removal under the Federal Reserve Act. AdvertisementCook, the first black woman to serve as a Fed governor, sued Trump in August after the president announced he would remove her. Cook has said the claims made by Trump against her did not give the president the legal authority to remove her and were a pretext to fire her for her monetary policy stance.