LIVE UPDATES: U.S. Supreme Court says Fed’s Lisa Cook can keep job for now in series of final week rulings

Lisa Cook, governor of the US Federal Reserve, speaks during a Fed Listens event in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, March 22, 2024. A trio of central bank decisions this week sent a clear message to markets that officials are preparing to loosen monetary policy, reigniting investor appetite for risk.

President Donald Trump has won and lost some as the Supreme Court wraps its final week of a term focused on executive power.

The justices said Monday that Trump can fire leaders of independent agencies with one exception, ruling that central banker Lisa Cook can keep her job at the Federal Reserve for now.

The court said states can count late-arriving mailed ballots, rejecting a Trump-led challenge. It declined to consider Trump’s push to toss a US$5 million jury verdict that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll. And it turned away Trump defender Alan Dershowitz ’s effort to rewrite the U.S. libel law standards.

Here’s the Latest:

Schumer blasts Supreme Court decision on independent federal agencies

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says the Supreme Court’s decision giving presidents free rein to fire agency heads at will gives Trump a “permission slip to turn independent federal agencies into members-only clubs for his golf buddies and cronies.”

The justices ruled in the case of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, whom Trump fired without cause despite a provision of federal law that requires a reason. The logic of the court’s decision extends to other agencies where Trump has fired board members.

Slaughter once served as Schumer’s chief counsel. Schumer says she was fired for no other reason than doing a good of a job protecting consumers.

“Instead of preserving independence intended to keep markets fair and protect consumers, Trump’s instead catering to fraudsters and monopolists. And the Supreme Court is giving him a green light to do it,” Schumer said.

Top California election official says mail-in ballot ruling is a win for democracy

California’s Secretary of State hailed Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court as a win for voters, the rule of law and democracy.

Shirley Weber, California’s first Black secretary of state, said in a statement the court “protected an important safeguard” that helps make sure voters are not disenfranchised by mail delays.

“This ruling makes one thing clear,” the Democrat said in a statement. “Our elections belong to the people, not to partisan agendas.”

Under California law, ballots received within seven days of an election are counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

FCC’s sole Democrat warns of Supreme Court ruling’s impact

Anna Gomez is one of the few Democrats who have held onto their seats at federal agencies after Trump fired most of them, partly because her presence allows for a quorum that allows Chairman Brendan Carr to enact his agenda.

She warned the Supreme Court’s ruling “puts at risk how Congress intended independent agencies to function in American democracy.”

“Those who argue these agencies are unaccountable misunderstand how they were designed, as the FCC answers to Congress, the democratically elected body that created it, through oversight, appropriations, and legislation,” she said in a statement following the Court’s ruling. “When commissioners can be removed for their policy views rather than for cause, the inevitable result is an agency that pulls its punches and defers to political winds rather than the record before it.”

She said consumers “will pay the price” in higher costs, fewer choices and slower progress toward connectivity.

Republican chairman follows Trump’s lead on mail-in ballot ruling

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said the court’s decision upholding state practices of accepting all ballots postmarked by Election Day is a reason to pass the president’s proposed elections bill that is stalled on Capitol Hill.

“If we want fair and secure elections, Election Day should mean exactly what it says, which is why this decision makes it even more imperative that Congress pass the SAVE America Act,” Gruters said.

RNC aides distributed the statement after Trump made the same argument Monday morning. Trump’s proposal would virtually eliminate absentee voting nationally, require voters to provide citizenship documentation to register and then present certain photo identification at polling places.

Gruters said Democrats “are inviting chaos at the ballot box by allowing elections to drag on.” He did not offer any examples of such chaos, and it was the original plaintiffs who wanted the court to overturn long-established rules months before November’s elections.

America 250 celebrations bring extraordinary security challenge to Washington

Federal law enforcement is preparing for one of the capital’s largest and most complex security operations as hundreds of thousands of people visit Washington for the 250th anniversary of the nation’s freedom.

The security challenge comes amid rising political violence, including recent incidents near the White House, and a president who enjoys being at the center of public pomp yet has repeatedly faced attempts on his life.

The nation’s capital “is a target-rich environment” on a normal day, said Darren B. Cox, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “We are prepared for any threats.”

The throngs will be joined by thousands of law enforcement officers and agents and 5,000 National Guard troops, along with military-style vehicles and other hardware not often seen on American streets.

Trump says he will keep fighting Carroll case after court declines to take it up

The president said in a social media post that it was “a Fake Case” brought against him by a woman he claims he never met.

“I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength,” Trump wrote.

He also said the case, in which a jury found that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll in New York City in the 1990s and and later defamed her, is “really against the United States of America, and all it stands for.”

In a statement Monday, Carroll said the decision affirms the jury’s verdict will stand. “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” she said.

Trump says he’ll seek to remove Cook despite court rejection of his initial attempt

Trump said he lost his effort to remove the Federal Reserve’s Lisa Cook “on a strictly procedural basis” and would still seek to remove the central bank governor.

The court ruled 5-4 that the Federal Reserve’s Lisa Cook can remain on the Fed board as she challenges the administration’s attempts to fire her over claims of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.

Trump said in a social media post that “we will take appropriate action immediately to make sure that someone who has committed wrongdoing will not be making vital decisions concerning the Welfare of the United States of America!”

In light of Supreme Court rejection, Trump renews push for his voter ID bill

Trump called a Supreme Court ruling that ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted days after an election a “tremendous loss.”

Trump posted on social media that the decision makes it more important for his SAVE America Act to pass. The measure would require proof of citizenship and include a ban on mail-in ballots unless that person is sick, disabled, traveling or deployed by the military, Trump noted.

“There is only one reason to oppose — CHEATING!” Trump said.

The president then called out Republican senators who have objected to the measure: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Cook says her attempted firing was about ‘political pressure’ on the Fed

The firing attempt “was never about mortgage documents signed years ago” but rather “was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure” from Trump, who has long sought lower interest rates from the central bank, Cook said in a written statement reacting to the court’s ruling.

Trump fired Cook last August, citing allegations that she had committed fraud in mortgage documents she signed in June and July of 2021. The Biden appointee sued to keep her job, and lower courts ruled she could remain while the case is litigated. The Supreme Court Monday upheld those rulings.

“Today’s ruling affirms a principle that has underpinned sound economic stewardship for generations: that the Federal Reserve must make all its policy decisions guided by evidence and independent judgment, free from political interference,” Cook’s statement said.

Trump applauds ruling empowering him to fire independent agency leaders

A majority of the justices ruled presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a previous court ruling from 91 years ago.

“It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers,” Trump posted on social media.

The justices ruled in the case of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter. The decision’s logic extends to National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Trump did not acknowledge that the court recognized some limits on his authorities by also ruling 5-4 that Lisa Cook can remain a central bank governor while challenging unproven mortgage fraud allegations, which she has denied.

Supreme Court says Fed’s Cook can keep her job for now

The Supreme Court on Monday dramatically expanded presidential power, upholding Trump’s firings of the heads of independent federal agencies with one important exception, the Federal Reserve.

The justices allowed Fed governor Lisa Cook to stay in her job while she fights the Republican president’s effort to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.

But other than at the nation’s central bank, with its role of setting interest rates, the court held that presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a 91-year-old decision that had limited executive authority. That decision, Humphrey’s Executor, was overturned.

Witkoff and Kushner going to Qatar for talks with Iran

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Steve Witkoff, who is the special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, are flying to Qatar to meet with the Iranians.

Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” that those talks would be “high level” and that technical negotiations would occur on the sidelines. Iran has denied that the talks are happening.

Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire by attacking a ship last week in Strait of Hormuz, but so far the interim deal for negotiations to take place appears to have held.

Court rules states can count late-arriving mailed ballots

The Court said states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day, a persistent target of Trump.

The decision Monday rejects a Republican-led attack on laws in more than half the states and the District of Columbia that permit mailed ballots to arrive and be counted some number of days after the election, provided they are postmarked by Election Day. The outcome spares officials the headache of changing their ballot rules just a few months before the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

In just over half those states, the more forgiving deadlines apply only to ballots cast by military and overseas voters.

Trump has claimed most mail balloting breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and years of experience. He keeps repeating that fraud caused his loss to Joe Biden in 2020 even though more than 60 court decisions and his own attorney general said that argument had no merit.

Supreme Court rebuffs Alan Dershowitz’s $300 million suit against CNN

The Supreme Court refused Monday to revive the prominent attorney’s defamation lawsuit against CNN over its coverage of remarks he made while defending Trump during his 2020 impeachment.

Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented from the majority decision, saying legal standards for public figures who claim defamation should be reconsidered.

Alan Dershowitz said the news network aired only part of a comment he made, distorting his meaning to make him look like he’d “lost his mind,” according to court documents.

The network said that multiple outlets had interpreted his remarks in a similar way, and Dershowitz couldn’t show CNN was trying to mischaracterize what he said.

Dershowitz had urged the justices to reconsider New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the landmark First Amendment case that made it harder for public figures to win libel lawsuits by requiring proof that an outlet either knowingly published something false, or showed a reckless disregard for the truth.

Supreme Court will weigh GOP push to revive Arizona voting laws

The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider a Republican push to enforce strict Arizona voting laws passed in the swing state after the 2020 election.

The high court has allowed some similar rules to take effect temporarily before, including Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirement for state and local elections and a Virginia purge of voter rolls that the state said was aimed at keeping noncitizens from voting.

President Donald Trump’s Republican administration joined the appeal after lower courts found the measures violated federal voting laws.

The high court is expected to hear arguments in the fall and hand down an opinion after the midterm elections.

Supreme Court rejects Trump push to toss US$5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict

Trump wanted the justices to throw out a jury’s finding that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. The high court, in a typically brief and unexplained order, declined to take up the case.

Trump’s lawyers had argued that allegations leading to the verdict were propped up by “highly inflammatory” evidentiary rulings, including those that allowed the testimony of two other women who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago. Trump has denied all three women’s allegations.

Trump’s attorneys also framed the case as a distraction from Trump’s unique duties as president, though the verdict came before his return to the White House. A jury also awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million after a second defamation trial. Trump also appealed that ruling, which is not yet before the Supreme Court.

Are oil traders too optimistic about a recovery in Gulf oil shipping?

Oil prices have inched up amid escalating tensions, with Tehran launching fresh drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait in response to new U.S. airstrikes over the weekend.

Brent crude, the international standard, was up 58 cents to $73.18 a barrel early Monday, up from about $72 before the war. Benchmark U.S. crude gained 73 cents to $69.96 a barrel.

But there’s still plenty of risk regarding ship safety in the Strait of Hormuz following the latest attacks on vessels. ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a commentary Monday that oil traders have been “too optimistic” about the timeline for a recovery in Persian Gulf supplies.

“This complacency is odd and clearly leaves significant upside risk if the supply recovery proves slow — or if we see significant re-escalation,” the commentary said.

Race or ethnicity matters more to many Black Americans: AP-NORC poll

Most Black Americans — 73 per cent — say their race or ethnicity is “extremely” or “very” important to how they see themselves, according to the new AP-NORC poll. Only about half of Black adults say that being an American is highly important to their personal identity.

About half of Hispanic Americans say their race or ethnicity is highly important to them, compared to 22 per cent of white Americans.

Vincent Harris, a 60-year-old in California who participated in the poll, says his identity as a Black man rises above other attributes for him because of how Black men are treated in America.

“A lot of people are scared of Black men just because we are Black and we are male. And that’s crazy,” Harris said. “People don’t even take you for who you are as a person; they just look at your race.”

House Republicans look to get their agenda on track

With a social media assist from President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson is looking this week to ease the divisions in his Republican ranks and make progress on key legislative priorities before this fall’s elections.

Johnson sent lawmakers home early last week and went to the White House after GOP tumult prevented the House from voting on two spending bills and a measure dealing with veterans’ benefits. Meanwhile, the list of legislative priorities only grew with Trump requesting another US$87.6 billion, mostly to cover the war with Iran.

Johnson emerged from his White House visit with a coveted Trump social media post telling Republicans to quit voting down procedural rules that allow for final votes on their legislative priorities. “No more grandstanding, please!” Trump wrote.

Before Trump’s message, Republican and Democratic lawmakers were openly doubting whether the House would even return this week.

Nancy Pelosi democracy institute is established at UC Berkeley

The former House Speaker and the University of California, Berkeley, are partnering to form a new nonpartisan academic institute they say will be dedicated to strengthening democracy.

Pelosi says she wants to “strengthen our democratic institutions and forge a future that serves the public good.” The Democrat is leaving Congress after representing San Francisco for nearly 40 years and is planning a busy retirement. She’ll co-teach a course on Congress at the Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy, which will launch in January and has already received more than $35 million in philanthropic commitments.

The university says the institute aims to strengthen America’s democratic institutions; overcome challenges to society, the economy and the planet; promote human and civil rights; and ensure political leadership that represents the full spectrum of perspectives and backgrounds.

Kara Swisher brings her Silicon Valley influence into politics

Kara Swisher is expanding her influence from tech journalism to politics. She’s known for her fearless interviews with tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Now her podcasts including “On with Kara Swisher” and “Pivot” are gaining traction as political platforms, reflecting the growing importance of digital media.

Swisher is hardly the only podcaster talking politics. Conservatives like Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson and some liberals like the former Barack Obama aides who host “Pod Save America” have larger audiences. They’re all dwarfed by Joe Rogan. But Swisher has few rivals who can match her technology expertise and connect those observations to the broader political debate.

Swisher told The Associated Press from her Washington home that she gets called by all the presidential candidates and she’s “going to get to all of them.”

American identity matters more to Republicans: AP-NORC poll

The new AP-NORC poll also finds that Republicans are much likelier than Democrats or independents to say being an American is “extremely” or “very” important to their personal identity.

At the same time, young adults are less likely than older people to say this is important to their identity. Matt Stafford, a 39-year-old centrist in Massachusetts who participated in the poll, said he is proud to be American, even if U.S. politics frustrate him. He has a bald eagle tattooed on his back to represent the U.S. and “all the things we’re supposed to stand for.”

Despite that pride, he’s frustrated: “I love America, but our biggest problem is how we’re pushing both sides — like the left and the right — to the extremes.”

Trump says Iran wants a meeting. Tehran says nothing’s scheduled

Trump said Monday on social media that Iran had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts, to be held Tuesday in Doha, Qatar. Iranian officials said no such meeting was scheduled.

The U.S. president has tried to preserve an increasingly fragile interim deal as hostilities have mounted in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, which could cause oil prices to rise and undermine Trump’s claims to voters that inflation in America was easing.

Trump celebrates U.S. oil futures trading at roughly $69 a barrel

Trump on Monday celebrated that U.S. oil futures were trading at roughly $69 a barrel, a decrease that he credited to the interim deal with Iran.

Even though the president has previously said oil prices and domestic political concerns were not influencing his approach to Iran, Trump has repeatedly focused on lower oil prices with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as a key victory.

The president falsely claimed that oil prices at $69 a barrel are lower than they were before the war. “This is less than it was prior to the start of the Denuclearization of Iran!” Trump said on social media.

Oil futures in the U.S. were trading at a range of roughly $65 to $66 before the war began in late February.

Americans’ pride in the country declines: AP-NORC poll

Americans have grown less proud of the country’s history and the way its democracy works over the last decade, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

The poll found Americans’ pride in the U.S. on several key attributes has dropped since 2017, including the nation’s military and its political influence around the globe.

The findings point to a broad decline in patriotic sentiment over a period that included most of President Donald Trump’s first term, the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation and Trump’s return to the White House.

Much of the falling positivity comes from Democrats, who have become increasingly disenchanted with the country since Trump’s first term.

Iran’s president says $6B in frozen assets in Qatar to be released

Iran’s president said Monday that $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets would be released by Qatar, as negotiations with the United States were challenged by attacks across the Persian Gulf this weekend.

Masoud Pezeshkian ’s mention of the funds appears aimed at selling the Iranian public on the interim deal, particularly as its grip on the Strait of Hormuz has been tested by efforts to open Oman’s territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf. Iran’s attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving through the strait, in which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed in peacetime, creating a global energy crisis.

The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite its location in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters. In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels going through a route near the Omani side, drawing retaliatory American airstrikes and concerns that negotiations to reach a formal end to the war could be disrupted. Iran launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday.

Trump says his renovation plans for a golf course will enable a ‘major’ tournament

Trump on Sunday surveyed several of his construction projects around the nation’s capital, suggesting afterward that his redevelopment of the East Potomac Golf Links would enable it to host a premier tournament.

“When completed, this Course will have the ability to host Major Golf Tournaments, including The U.S. Open, The Ryder Cup, The PGA Championship, and other top PGA Tour events,” Trump posted on social media.

Trump toured the course with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, various aides and the golf course architect Tom Fazio and his son, Gavin Fazio. The president’s redevelopment of the course is subject to a lawsuit in U.S. District Court.

It’s unclear when the course could host any major tournaments, as locations are chosen several years ahead of the events. Locations for the U.S. Open are scheduled through 2051, though there are available spots in 2043, 2046 and 2048. The PGA Championship is set through 2035.

The Supreme Court wrapping its term with momentous cases about Trump’s power

The Supreme Court is wrapping up a term focused on Trump’s expansive claims of presidential power.

Trump’s efforts to restrict birthright citizenship, fire the heads of most independent agencies at will and remove a sitting Federal Reserve governor are among the remaining eight cases the justices are expected to decide this week, beginning Monday.

The court also is weighing, in cases from West Virginia and Idaho, whether to uphold laws in roughly half the states that prohibit transgender girls and women from playing on their public school and college sports.

Two election-related cases remain, over state laws that allow a grace period for the receipt of mailed ballots, provided they are sent by Election Day, and limits on political party spending in support of candidates for Congress and president.

Also outstanding is a dispute over geofence warrants that collect the location history of cellphone users to find people near crime scenes. Critics say the practice is a fishing expedition that violates civil liberties.

Trump presses Syria to take on Hezbollah, raising alarm in Lebanon and Israel

As the White House has soured on Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, U.S. President Donald Trump has shocked many in the region by pushing an alternative: Let Syria fight the Iran-backed militant group instead.

He has suggested that the battle-hardened and Islamist-led insurgents who overthrew Syria’s autocratic President Bashar Assad a year and a half ago and formed a new government would do a better job of rooting out Hezbollah than the Israeli army.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has said he has no interest in doing so, and has asserted that Trump’s comments were misconstrued. But Trump has doubled down on the idea.

Although it remains unclear how serious the White House is about the proposal, the prospect of a Syrian invasion has raised alarms in Lebanon — and also in Israel, which regards al-Sharaa’s Islamist-led government with suspicion and has seized control of a strip of southern Syria since he took power.

The Associated Press