WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of a federal watchdog agency must remain in his job, a judge in Washington ruled on Saturday, saying President Donald Trump’s bid to remove the special counsel was unlawful.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sided with Hampton Dellinger, who leads the Office of Special Counsel, in a legal battle over the president’s authority to oust the head of the independent agency that’s likely headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dellinger sued Trump last month after he was fired even though the law says special counsels can be removed by the president “only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
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Jackson, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic president Barack Obama, quickly reinstated Dellinger in the job while he pursued his case.
The ruling comes as Dellinger is challenging the removal of probationary workers who were fired as part of the Trump administration’s massive overhaul of the government. A federal board on Tuesday halted the terminations of several probationary workers after Dellinger said their firings may have been unlawful.
The Justice Department says removal protections for the special counsel are unconstitutional and prevent the president from rightfully installing his preferred agency head.
Dellinger’s lawyers say the special counsel is meant to be insulated from presidential interference because of the office’s unique responsibilities to protect whistleblowers.
The Office of Special Counsel is responsible for guarding the federal workforce from illegal personnel actions, such as retaliation for whistleblowing. It investigates whistleblower claims of reprisal, can pursue disciplinary action against employees who punish whistleblowers and provides a channel for employees to disclose government wrongdoing.
“If I don’t have independence, if I can be removed for no good reason, federal employees are going to have no good reason to come to me,” Dellinger told reporters outside Washington’s federal courthouse after a recent hearing.
The case has already gone up once to the Supreme Court, which earlier temporarily allowed Dellinger to remain in his job.
The Justice Department employed sweeping language in urging the Supreme Court last month to allow the termination of the head of an obscure federal agency with limited power. Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in court papers that the lower court had crossed “a constitutional red line” by blocking Dellinger’s firing and stopping Trump “from shaping the agenda of an executive-branch agency in the new administration’s critical first days.”
The Office of Special Counsel is also responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act, which restricts the partisan political activities of government workers. Dellinger’s firing came as Trump administration employees have touted their support on social media for his policies even though the Hatch Act is meant to restrict political advocacy while on duty.
Dellinger was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term in 2024.
