Why the Fed’s future rests on this Supreme Court case

Summary

Podcast Summary: Apple News Today

Episode: Why the Fed’s future rests on this Supreme Court case

Date: January 21, 2026
Host: Shemitah Basu

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the high-stakes Supreme Court case involving the attempted firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and its implications for Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s future and the broader independence of the Federal Reserve. Other featured segments cover the landmark Uvalde police trial, shifting trends in the American job market favoring older workers, and notable moments from the Davos summit, including international reactions to President Trump.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Supreme Court Case: Fed Independence on the Line

[00:05–03:50]

• Background:
  Governor Lisa Cook challenges President Trump’s attempt to fire her; per the Federal Reserve Act, Fed governors are intended to be insulated from political pressure, only removable “for cause.”
• Expert Perspective:
  Chris Rugaber (AP economics writer) explains this insulation is essential for allowing the Fed to enact unpopular, necessary policies, such as raising interest rates to combat inflation, which “most elected officials don’t want to do.”
• Accusations:
  The Trump administration claims Cook engaged in mortgage fraud; Cook vigorously denies the charges, stating she wasn’t afforded due process.
• Precedent:
  Rugaber underscores the historic nature of the move:

  “This is an unprecedented move by President Trump to remove a Fed governor. It’s not happened in the Fed’s 112 year history.” — Chris Rugaber [01:47]

• Implications for Powell:
  If the court sides against Cook, it may open the pathway for Trump to attempt removing Powell as chair; Powell also faces threats of a criminal indictment related to Fed building renovations.
• Potential Ripple Effects:
  Removal “for cause” may be invoked more broadly, potentially reshaping the Fed’s relationship with the White House.
• Controversy Over Powell’s Attendance:
  Treasury Secretary Scott Besant criticizes Powell for attending the Supreme Court hearing, suggesting it risks politicizing the Fed:

  “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.” — Scott Besant (via Chris Rugaber) [02:55]

• Powell’s Position:
  Powell intends the Fed to act as a neutral party: “The Fed will not get involved in commenting and will abide by whatever the court decides.”
• Future for Powell:
  Even if his chair term ends in May, Powell’s governor seat runs until January 2028, presenting a possible strategy to maintain influence regardless of administration changes.
• Decision Timeline:
  Supreme Court ruling on the Cook case expected by summer 2026.

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2. The Uvalde Police Officer Trial

[03:50–08:17]

• Case Background:
  Adrian Gonzalez, one of the first officers at Robb Elementary during the 2022 Uvalde shooting, is on trial for alleged child abandonment and endangerment.
• Primary Legal Question:

  “The central question is whether a police officer has an affirmative duty to protect the public. Are they required to act? … It hasn’t been tested very much and there really aren’t many cases like this.” — Elizabeth Findell (Wall Street Journal) [05:03]

• Details of the Indictment:
  Gonzalez allegedly failed to respond aggressively despite witness alerts and auditory cues of gunfire, not following active shooter training.
• Prosecution’s Argument:

  “When a child is in danger and calls 911, we have the right.” — Special prosecutor, Bill Turner [05:40] The expectation is that officers should “run towards the gunshot … and neutralize [the threat].” — Findell [05:48]

• Defense Position:
  Gonzalez’s team asserts he did respond:

  “The government wants to make it seem like he just sat there…he did what he could with what he knew at the time.” — Defense argument via Manuel Rizzo [06:17]

• Victims’ Families:
  Manuel Rizzo, whose nephew was killed, expresses hope for accountability:

  “We want them to highlight every single opportunity Adrian had to protect the children and teachers and the survivors.” — Manuel Rizzo [06:39]

• Systemic Failure Spotlight:
  While Gonzalez faces charges, the trial raises questions about focusing blame on individuals versus widespread institutional failure:

  “The response … was a complete failure at pretty much every level involving numerous agencies. So a lot of people have asked why this guy out of 370 officers?” — Elizabeth Findell [07:50]

• Precedent:
  The only similar case was the Parkland officer’s trial—ending in acquittal.

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3. The Greying of the American Workforce

[08:17–11:40]

• Labor Market Shifts:
  Average age of new hires rose to 42 in 2025, reflecting new preferences for older, experienced workers, and challenging prospects for young job-seekers.
• Entry-Level Expectations Rising:

  “Entry level roles are kind of starting to look a lot more like management than they used to.” — Taylor Telford (Washington Post) [08:47]

• Gen Z’s Struggles:
  Existing employees are staying longer, often into their 60s and 70s, and employers are favoring resumes with more extensive experience, partly due to expectations that AI will reshape job functions.
• Barrier for College Graduates:
  The percentage of workers aged 25 and younger continues to drop. Example:
  • Menasha Thomas, 23, spent 14 months applying for jobs (post–Barnard College), landing only a paid internship despite upskilling.
• Older Workers’ Motivations:

  “There’s also the aspect of huge financial pressure that is definitely keeping retirement maybe more out of reach for a lot of people…some of them are actually even unretiring.” — Taylor Telford [10:59]

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4. Davos 2026: Cold Shoulders and Sharp Words

[11:40–13:10]

• Diplomacy in the Spotlight:
  The Davos summit theme is “a spirit of dialogue,” yet competitive and sometimes adversarial rhetoric dominated.
• Macron’s Critique:

  “We’re entering a world without rules as cooperation gives way to relentless competition … [from] the United States of America through trade agreements that undermine our export interests.” — President Emmanuel Macron [12:09]

• Canada’s Prime Minister Weighs In:

  “The middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.” — Mark Carney (inferred from context, via Chris Rugaber) [12:36]

• Gavin Newsom’s Rebuke:

  “I can’t take this complicity, people rolling over… I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders … they are being given away. I mean, it’s just pathetic. And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage.” — Gavin Newsom [12:48]

• Other News:
  Vice President J.D. Vance and wife Usha announce their fourth child will make history as the first born to a sitting vice president. The so-called “Trump account” program will provide $1,000 from the government for all newborns (2025–2028).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fed Independence:
  “The idea behind the Fed is that it has some insulation, not complete insulation, but some insulation from political pressure.” — Chris Rugaber [01:09]
• On Law Enforcement Responsibility:
  “Are they required to act? … It hasn’t been tested very much and there really aren’t many cases like this.” — Elizabeth Findell [05:03]
• On Today’s Hiring Reality:
  “What is happening is that entry level roles are kind of starting to look a lot more like management than they used to.” — Taylor Telford [08:47]
• On Retirement Postponed:
  “There’s also the aspect of huge financial pressure that is definitely keeping retirement maybe more out of reach for a lot of people than they might have thought.” — Taylor Telford [10:59]
• Davos Barbs:
  “If we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.” — Mark Carney [12:36]
  “I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders…this is pathetic.” — Gavin Newsom [12:48]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Supreme Court and Fed: 00:05–03:50
• Uvalde Officer Trial: 03:50–08:17
• Labor Market Shifts: 08:17–11:40
• Davos Summit Reactions: 11:40–13:10

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This episode offers a panoramic view of institutional power struggles, the evolving definition of public duty and accountability, demographic trends re-shaping work in America, and glimpses of political theater on the global stage—providing listeners a concise yet nuanced understanding of the stories shaping our world today.

Transcript

[Shemitah Basu]

Good morning. Jerome Powell is at the Supreme Court today as his colleague challenges White House attempts to fire her. The Associated Press explains how it could decide his fate, too. In Texas, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal takes us inside the courtroom for the case of the police officer accused of failing to act during the Uvalde school shooting. And in Davos, a frosty reception for Trump.

[Manuel Rizzo]

We do prefer respect to bul, and we do prefer rule of law to brutality.

[Shemitah Basu]

It's Wednesday, January 21st. I'm Shemitah Basu. This is Apple News today. Today, Jerome Powell will watch on as the Supreme Court considers President Trump's attempted firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook. The case centers on a concept laid out in the Federal Reserve act, which says that Fed board governors can only be fired for cause. Chris Rugaber is an economics writer with the Associated Press who explained how this has allowed the agency to retain its independence.

[Chris Rugaber]

The idea behind the Fed is that it has some insulation, not complete insulation, but some insulation from political pressure. So it can do unpopular things like raise interest rates in order to push back on inflation, which most elected officials don't want to do because, you know, higher interest rates makes mortgages more expensive, car loans more expensive. And so it's hard for anyone who's facing election to want to do that.

[Shemitah Basu]

The Trump administration has accused Cook of mortgage fraud and argued in court filings that that's a legitimate reason to remove her from her post. Cook and her attorneys deny that accusation and say that she was not afforded due process.

[Chris Rugaber]

This is an unprecedented move by President Trump to remove a Fed governor. It's not happened in the Fed's 112 year history. So the argument is that the court should maintain the status quo while this case then plays out in the courts.

[Shemitah Basu]

If the court rules against Cook, it could signal an opening for Trump to remove the Fed chair as well. Powell recently hit back against a threatened criminal indictment from the Trump administration relating to comments he made in Congress about renovations to Fed buildings.

[Chris Rugaber]

You're seeing a sign of what the Trump administration might do if they are able to remove people for cause. They would then maybe use this building renovation. They would remove the chair and they would possibly find reasons to fire other people. Some analysts say that the move against Powell made it more likely that Cook would win her case, at least temporarily, because it again, it shows how far things might go if you allow the Trump administration to remove people for cause.

[Shemitah Basu]

Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said yesterday that he didn't think it was right for Powell to be attending the Supreme Court. Arguments. He, he spoke with CNBC from Davos.

[Chris Rugaber]

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.

[Shemitah Basu]

Powell has previously said that the Fed will not get involved in commenting and will abide by whatever the court decides. While his term as chair is set to end in May, Rugaber pointed out an interesting wrinkle that could impact the future of the Fed's relationship with the White House.

[Chris Rugaber]

There's a separate term he has as a governor, a member of the seven member governing board, and that goes until 2028, January 2028. He could remain on the board for that time and then that would deny the Trump administration an opportunity to fill the seat. Most people expected that he was going to step down until this subpoena came out a little more than a week ago. Now the expectation, I mean, no one knows. But now it's seen as at least somewhat more likely that he may stay on the board.

[Shemitah Basu]

Decision in the Cook case is expected by this summer. Today in Uvalde, Texas, an extraordinary trial is entering its final stages to decide whether a single police officer can be prosecuted for how they responded to a school shooting. Back in 2022, an 18 year old gunman arrived at Robb Elementary School and opened fire, killing two teachers, fourth graders. In the years since, federal and state reviews have been highly critical of the police operation, with the Justice Department concluding it was riddled with, quote, cascading failures. More than 370 officers responded that day and it took nearly 80 minutes for a tactical team to kill the shooter. But Adrian Gonzalez, who arrived on campus moments before his colleagues, is one of only two men to be facing criminal charges.

[Elizabeth Findell]

Prosecutors are essentially arguing that he didn't act quickly enough when there was this gunman on campus.

[Shemitah Basu]

Elizabeth Findell is a Texas based reporter for the Wall Street Journal covering the trial.

[Elizabeth Findell]

The central question is whether a police officer has an affirmative duty to protect the public. Are they required to act? And that's interesting because it hasn't been tested very much and there really aren't many cases like this.

[Shemitah Basu]

The indictment claims that witnesses alerted Gonzalez to the shooter's location and he heard the gunfire, but he failed to engage, distract or delay the shooter and he didn't follow his active shooter training. Here's the special prosecutor, Bill Turner in his opening statement.

[Manuel Rizzo]

So why are we here? When a child is in danger and calls 91 1, we have the right.

[Elizabeth Findell]

To expect a response the prosecution is arguing he should have run towards the gunshot, that that's what cops do, they follow threats and you run towards the gunshots and you figure out where they're coming from and you neutralize them.

[Shemitah Basu]

Gonzalez has pled not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment. And his defense says he did take action by chasing who he thought was the gunman, then assisting other officers and helping evacuate kids from other classrooms.

[Manuel Rizzo]

The government wants to make it seem like he just sat there, you know, he didn't just sit there, he did what he could with what he knew at the time. And this was fluid and it was dynamic situation.

[Shemitah Basu]

Many of the victims families have been watching the proceedings in the courtroom. Manuel Rizzo, whose nine year old nephew was killed in the shooting, told Texas Public Radio why he was there.

[Manuel Rizzo]

We're going to hope that the prosecution, the prosecutors, the district attorney and the people that owe this to their constituents do their job and they do a damn good job of it. But we want them to highlight every single opportunity Adrian had to protect the children and teachers and the survivors.

[Shemitah Basu]

Find us that prosecutors have not accused Gonzalez of causing the deaths or injuries of the children. And they must prove his actions negligently caused harm, injured in attempting to prove his inaction was criminal. This case stands apart from most charges against police officers, she told us. There is really only one other case that parallels this, which was the trial of an officer who was on duty in Parkland, Florida when A gunman killed 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. That officer was acquitted of felony child neglect. While some families of victims say they hope to see Gonzalez found guilty, find us the focus on one individual following systemic failures hasn't satisfied everyone.

[Elizabeth Findell]

Multiple reports have shown that the response to the Uvalde shooting was a complete failure at pretty much every level involving numerous agencies. And so a lot of people have asked why this guy out of 370 some officers? Prosecutors haven't answered that completely directly, but I think the answer is likely because he was the first person on the scene. Even if only by seconds.

[Shemitah Basu]

The closing arguments will be heard today. Something kind of counterintuitive is happening in the American job market. Companies are increasingly looking toward an older workforce to fill its open roles. In fact, according to one recent analysis by a company that reviews employment trends, the average age for a new hire last year ticked up to 42 years old.

[Taylor Telford]

What is happening is that entry level roles are kind of starting to look a lot more like management than they.

[Shemitah Basu]

Used to Taylor Telford is a Washington Post reporter and she told us there are a couple of things going on that are making life difficult for gen zers. Many people who are employed already are staying on the job longer, some into their 60s and 70s. And then employers, betting on AI making jobs easier and more efficient, are increasingly looking for more seasoned resumes.

[Taylor Telford]

The kinds of things that we're now seeing more common in some of these entry level roles are they're asking for skills that are a lot more like what we would typically see for somebody who's more experienced, who's had more time to learn how to do things like manage people and manage projects. And so what we're seeing is that actually older workers are really having an easier time in this market.

[Shemitah Basu]

The data the Post examined showed that the share of workers 25 and younger has declined since 2022. Last year saw US employers pretty dramatically pull back on hiring, which could typically pull in more younger entry level workers. That doesn't appear to be happening at the moment.

[Taylor Telford]

What's interesting right now is that the economy is doing really well and we're still having all of these conditions where post grads are in some cases spending one year, two years, three years applying to jobs without getting anything in the realm of what they studied.

[Shemitah Basu]

Telford told us about Menasha Thomas, a 23 year old who graduated from Barnard College in 2024 with a degree in urban planning.

[Taylor Telford]

She spent basically 14 months now applying to different jobs. She's done networking. She's spent a lifetime on LinkedIn, it feels like to her applying and also doing a lot of upskilling, trying to make herself more hireable with new certifications. And after all of that time, all that she has to show for it is a paid internship, which she is admittedly really grateful. But it just goes to show that in this situation, folks are just having a really hard time breaking in.

[Shemitah Basu]

On the other side of this equation is the people staying in their jobs until later in life and the forces pressing them to do that.

[Taylor Telford]

There's also the aspect of huge financial pressure that is definitely keeping retirement maybe more out of reach for a lot of people than they might have thought. Inflation has really driven up the cost of living in the past couple of years, especially the cost of stuff like housing and transportation and food. And so for a lot of people, they might have thought that they would have been ready to be out of the workforce at 65, but some of them are actually even unretiring in this environment. And in a lot of cases they're rejoining the workforce because of that financial pressure.

[Shemitah Basu]

And finally, a few other stories we're following. This year's Davos summit was given the official theme a spirit of dialogue. There's certainly been lots of that already this week, though maybe not the way organizers intended. President Trump's threats over Greenland dominated the day yesterday and it was the French President Emmanuel Macron who turned the most heads with a sharply critical speech. He said, we're entering a world without rules as cooperation gives way to relentless.

[Manuel Rizzo]

Competition, competition from the United States of America through trade agreements that undermine our export interests and openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe, combined with an endless accumulation of new tariffs that are fundamentally unacceptable.

[Shemitah Basu]

And Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney joined in with what seemed to be a rebuke of Trump, though he never mentioned him by name, urging like minded nations to stick together.

[Chris Rugaber]

The middle powers must act together because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu.

[Shemitah Basu]

But for California's Governor Gavin Newsom, the international response to Trump has so far been lacking.

[Manuel Rizzo]

I can't take this complicity, people rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders. I mean, handing out crowns and handing, I mean, this is pathetic Nobel prizes, they are being given away. I mean, it's just pathetic. And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage.

[Shemitah Basu]

President Trump is expected to speak at Davos today. And Vice President J.D. vance and his wife Usha Vance announced they are expecting their fourth child later this year. And it'll come with a historic distinction. Vance will be the first vice president known to have welcomed a child while in office. Vance and Trump have both spoken out about how Americans should have more children, though the New York Times notes how one year into office, some of Trump's early pro family proposals, like making IVF free and federal baby bonuses, have not materialized. The new baby Vance, like all babies born between 2025 and 2028 with a Social Security number, will be eligible for a so called Trump account of $1,000 ceded by the government. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the news app right now, we've got a narrated article. Coming up next, Men's Health explores America's nicotine boom and how despite an attractive rebrand, long term health consequences for consumers are just now starting to become clear. If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News plus narrated to find that story. I'll be back with the news tomorrow.