Trump asks again for justices to allow firing OSC head
EMERGENCY DOCKET
The Trump administration reiterated its request for the Supreme Court to lift an order by a federal judge in Washington, D.C. that instructed President Donald Trump to temporarily reinstate the head of an independent federal agency tasked with protecting whistleblowers from retaliation. (Thomas Hawk via Flickr)
The Trump administration on Wednesday reiterated its request for the Supreme Court to lift an order by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that instructed President Donald Trump to temporarily reinstate the head of an independent federal agency tasked with protecting whistleblowers from retaliation.
Last week the justices declined to freeze the order by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, instead leaving the Trump administration’s request on hold until her order expired on Feb. 26. Jackson extended the order on Wednesday until March 1. Hampton Dellinger, head of the Office of Special Counsel and a lawyer for the government, asked the justices not to act on the request until March 1. The Office of Special Counsel is designed to protect federal employees from retaliation and other activities that are prohibited in the federal workforce. Under the law that established the agency, the head of the office can only be removed by the president for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
Then-President Joe Biden appointed Dellinger to serve a five-year term as the head of the office in 2024. Dellinger sued after he was fired by an email on February 7 that didn’t specify the reason. When the D.C. She argued that the justices could review the order because it “deeply intrudes into the core concerns of the executive branch” by limiting the president’s ability to remove senior officials. She argued that the justices could review the order because it “deeply intrudes into the core concerns of the executive branch” by infringing on the president’s ability to remove senior officials.
But in a brief order on Feb. 21, the justices instead opted to put the government’s request on hold – leaving Dellinger in place as the head of the Office of Special Counsel – until Jackson’s order ran out on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
After a hearing on Wednesday, Harris explained, Jackson extended the TRO until Saturday, March 1, to give her more time to consider the briefs filed by both sides and draft an opinion. Harris told the justices that “in the interim, the harms to the Executive Branch” from Jackson’s order have “become even more concrete,” since the Office of Special Counsel filed proceedings to challenge Trump’s administration’s firing of several probationary staff. “In short,” she concluded, despite Trump’s efforts to remove him from office, Dellinger “is wielding executive power, over the elected Executive’s objection, to halt employment decisions made by other executive agencies.”
Joshua Matz, a lawyer for Dellinger, told the justices that Dellinger “has no objection to this Court holding the government’s application in abeyance for three more days.” When Jackson acts on March 1, he observed, her temporary restraining order “will immediately dissolve,” rendering the government’s request to lift it moot. Matz said that the losing side could appeal Jackson’s decision, “probably starting in” the D.C. Circuit.
