A federal judge late Tuesday temporarily blocked President Trump's attempted ouster of Federal Reserve board of governors member Lisa Cook.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb acknowledged that the firing and Cook's subsequent legal challenge raise "many serious questions" that the courts have not mulled before, but said that at this preliminary stage, Cook made a "strong showing" that her removal violated the Federal Reserve Act's "for cause" provision.

The judge explained that the "best reading" of the provision is that the premise of a Fed governor's removal is limited to grounds concerning their behavior in office and whether they have been "faithfully and effectively" executing their statutory duties.

"“For cause” thus does not contemplate removing an individual purely for conduct that oc

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