Former President Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to let him fire the leader of an independent ethics agency that protects federal whistleblowers. He has made an urgent appeal to the highest court to decide if he can dismiss Hampton Dellinger, who heads the US Office of Special Counsel.
This is believed to be the first case from Trump’s many executive actions to reach the Supreme Court. Trump has also removed over a dozen inspectors general from various federal agencies and dismissed thousands of government employees.
Mr Dellinger, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, sued the Trump administration after he was fired by email this month.
He argued that his removal broke a law that protects leaders of independent agencies from being fired by the president, “except in cases of neglect of duty, malfeasance or inefficiency”.
The agency’s main goal is to protect federal employees from illegal actions taken against them for whistleblowing, as stated in its mission statement. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Washington DC issued a temporary order allowing Mr. Dellinger to keep his job while the case is reviewed. On Saturday, the US Court of Appeals in the capital, which was split in its decision, denied the Trump administration’s request to overturn the lower court’s ruling.
This has led to the current legal situation.tice department filing an emergency appeal to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, a filing seen by various US media.
“This court should not allow lower courts to seize executive power by dictating to the president how long he must continue employing an agency head against his will,” Sarah M Harris, acting solicitor general, wrote in the filing provided by the Department of Justice to the Washington Post.
“Until now, as far as we are aware, no court in American history has wielded an injunction to force the president to retain an agency head,” the acting solicitor general wrote, according to the Associated Press news agency.