Did Collins v. Yellen Lead Trump To Fire Lisa Cook?

Bill Pulte, the director of the FHFA, could investigate the Federal Reserve because Trump could fire the holdover Biden appointee.

President Trump purported to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board, for cause. Here, at least, Trump is not asserting an absolute removal power over the Fed. Wilcox said in dicta the Fed was different than the FTC. And I think under the Solicitor General's position in CASA, the federal government would bind itself to the Supreme Court's holdings, as well as reasoning. I'm not sure how that analysis maps on the flag-burning executive order, but that is a topic for another time.

There is an angle of Cook's firing that has not gotten much attention. The alleged cause to remove Cook is that she falsified terms on a mortgage. And who made that allegation? Bill Pulte. Who is Bill Pulte you might ask? The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

That agency should sound familiar. The FHFA was headed by a single director who served a five year term, and could only be removed for cause. Collins v. Yellen (2021) held that the structure of the FHFA was unconstitutional.

Collins was decided on June 23, 2021. That day, President Biden fired Mark Calabria, who was President Trump's appointee to that position. Biden replaced Calabria with Sandra Thompson, who began her five-year term in 2022. Thompson resigned on the eve of the inauguration.

Do you see the connection? Had the Supreme Court upheld the structure of the FHFA, President Biden's nominee would still be in office, serving out her five-year term. And I suspect she would not be investigating potential mortgage fraud for Lisa Cook. But, in reality, President Trump has his own nominee at the head of the FHFA. And Pulte is using his authority to investigate the Federal Reserve.

One Supreme Court case on the unitary executive begets another Supreme Court case on the unitary executive.

Then again, if the Court had upheld the structure of the FHFA, the road to overruling Humphrey's Executor would have been cut short.