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Bessent says Fed's Powell should not attend Supreme Court hearing on Cook

BY Reuters | ECONOMIC | 01/20/26 07:40 AM EST

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday he believed it would be a mistake for ?Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell ?to attend Supreme Court arguments in a ?case about President ?Donald Trump's ?attempt to fire a Fed governor.

The Supreme ?Court justices on ?Wednesday will consider the legality of Trump's bid to ?remove Fed Governor ?Lisa ?Cook.

The Associated Press and other media reported on Monday that Powell ?planned to attend the court's oral arguments.

"I actually think that's a mistake. Because if you're trying not to politicize ?the ?Fed, for the Fed chair to be sitting there, ?trying to put his thumb on the scale is a real mistake," Bessent said.

Critics of the Republican president have expressed concern that Trump's ?actions and rhetoric could jeopardize the independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve. (Reporting by Doina ?Chiacu; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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