The Trump administration has expressed its intention to terminate the head of a federal agency that safeguards whistleblowers, documents acquired on Sunday reveal. This marks the first appeal to the Supreme Court since President Trump assumed office.
The appeal was launched in response to a series of lower court rulings that have hindered the progression of the President’s second-term agenda. Lawyers representing Trump and his administration are expected to increasingly challenge these rulings.
The Justice Department, in documentation obtained by The Associated Press, has urged the Supreme Court, which predominantly leans conservative, to revoke a lower court’s order that temporarily reinstated Hampton Dellinger as the chief of the Office of Special Counsel.
Dellinger maintains that he can only be dismissed for performance-related issues, none of which were mentioned in the email that announced his dismissal. The petition was filed shortly after a divided appeals court panel declined to revoke the order due to procedural reasons. This order, filed on Wednesday, is set to expire on Feb. 26.
The case is not expected to be officially registered until the Supreme Court returns from the Presidents Day holiday weekend. The justices will not take action until Tuesday at the earliest.
It remains uncertain how Trump’s appeal will be received by the conservative-majority court, which includes three justices he nominated during his first term.
The lawsuit was initiated last week by Dellinger, following his removal as the head of the Office of Special Counsel. This office is tasked with protecting federal employees from unlawful personnel actions, including retaliation for whistleblowing. Dellinger, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate for a five-year term in 2024, stated that the office’s work is “needed now more than ever.” He cited the extraordinary number of dismissals without cause of federal employees with civil service protections by the Trump administration in recent weeks.
The Trump administration contends that the order temporarily reinstating Dellinger is an unacceptable encroachment on executive power. It cites a Supreme Court decision that granted Trump immunity from criminal prosecution as evidence of executive power.
The Office of Special Counsel operates independently of Justice Department special counsels, such as Jack Smith. These special counsels are appointed by the attorney general for specific investigations. Dellinger’s dismissal is part of a broader effort by Trump to downsize and reconfigure the federal government, thereby challenging long-standing civil service protections.
