The U.S. Supreme Court
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On Friday, the Supreme Court chose to delay a decision regarding the Trump administration’s authority to dismiss the leader of a significant federal agency.
The court decided not to intervene with a previous lower court ruling that temporarily halted the dismissal, effective until February 26, the date when the lower court’s order is set to lapse. Due to the proximity of the deadline, the high court elected to keep the issue in abeyance for now.
This marks the initial appeal from the Trump administration to the Supreme Court amidst numerous ongoing legal disputes.
Two liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, expressed dissent, indicating that they would not have considered the Trump administration’s appeal at this stage.
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito, who lean conservative, voiced their dissent, stating that they would have supported the administration’s petition to overturn the lower court’s directive.
The conflict originated on February 7 when Trump dismissed Hampton Dellinger from his position as head of the Office of the Special Counsel. This independent agency is responsible for safeguarding the rights of federal employees, including whistleblowers reporting alleged misconduct within the government.
This agency is distinct from the more widely known Office of Special Counsel in the Justice Department.
Dellinger was appointed to this agency by former President Joe Biden in 2024 for a five-year term and, according to Congress’s directive, can only be removed for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
Dellinger contested his firing in federal court, and on February 12, a judge ruled to temporarily reinstate him for 14 days while assessing the legal matters involved in the case.
This kind of court order is generally reserved for urgent situations and is rarely subject to appeal due to its short duration. Nevertheless, the Trump administration requested the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to make an exception, which the appellate court declined.
As a final measure, Trump sought the intervention of the Supreme Court to halt the lower court’s ruling, citing a need for urgent relief.
The Trump administration contended that Dellinger’s reinstatement encroached upon the president’s complete authority to appoint leadership in executive agencies. According to the administration, each day without filling Dellinger’s role leads to “extraordinary and irreparable harm” to the executive branch.
The current Supreme Court, which features a conservative majority of 6-to-3, has long been navigating around this issue and similar questions but has yet to overturn the court’s 1935 ruling that asserts presidents may dismiss such agency heads only for cause, indicating misconduct.
