The Trump administration is expected to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the firing of a government ethics watchdog after a lower circuit court judge had reinstated him.
According to NBC News, Hampton Dellinger, leader of the Office of Special Counsel, a whistleblower protection agency, had filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after he was fired.
A district judge had temporarily reinstated Dellinger, a Biden appointee, during ongoing legal proceedings. On Saturday, a D.C. Circuit panel denied the Trump administration’s request to overturn the judge’s order on procedural grounds.
However, Dellinger claims in his lawsuit that he was fired illegally.
“That email made no attempt to comply with the Special Counsel’s for-cause removal protection,” Dellinger’s lawsuit reportedly said. “It stated simply: ‘On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Special Counsel of the US Office of Special Counsel is terminated, effective immediately.’”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to escalate the case to the Supreme Court, requesting intervention to keep Dellinger off the job while litigation continues. A copy of the application, provided by a DOJ official, has not yet been docketed at the Supreme Court.
The application contends that lower court actions have hindered President Donald Trump‘s ability to manage the executive branch, stating that preventing him from exercising these powers causes significant harm to the Executive Branch and the separation of powers.
The application, signed by acting Solicitor General Sarah M. Harris, read, “The United States now seeks this Court’s intervention because these judicial rulings irreparably harm the Presidency by curtailing the President’s ability to manage the Executive Branch in the earliest days of his Administration.”
The DOJ had reportedly said the lower court filings were an attempt to “supplant” Trump‘s Constitutional powers.
“This Court should not allow the judiciary to govern by temporary restraining order and supplant the political accountability the Constitution ordains,” the application said.
The Trump administration’s widespread dismissals and efforts to reduce the federal government’s size have been praised by fiscal conservatives but condemned as illegal by Democrats, labor unions, and progressive organizations.
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