An appeals court in Washington on Wednesday removed the head of a federal watchdog agency in the latest twist in a legal fight over President Donald Trump's authority to fire the special counsel.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia sided with the Trump administration in allowing the immediate removal of Hampton Dellinger as head of the Office of Special Counsel while the court considers legal arguments in the case. Dellinger is likely to appeal 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." U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Saturday ruled that Dellinger's firing was unlawful and quickly reinstated him in the job while he pursued his case. It was that order that the appeals court lifted Wednesday.
Dellinger's lawyers say allowing the president to fire the special counsel without cause would have a chilling effect on the important duties of the office to protect whistleblowers.
The Trump administration has argued that the law protecting the special counsel from removal is unconstitutional and unfairly prevents the president from rightfully installing his preferred agency head.
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.
Wednesday's appellate ruling came as Dellinger is also challenging the removal of probationary workers who were fired as part of the Trump administration's shake-up of the federal government.
After a request from Dellinger's office, a government panel that enforces workers' rights ruled Wednesday that more than 5,000 employees fired by the Trump administration should be put back on the job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
While the order applies only to the USDA workers, Dellinger released a statement "calling on all federal agencies to voluntarily and immediately rescind any unlawful terminations of probationary employees."
