Trump admin appeals to Supreme Court after lower court rejects plan to fire Special Counsel Office chief

On Sunday, President Donald Trump's efforts to cut down the scope of government and fire officials in the executive branch reached the Supreme Court. The case in question marks the first of multiple legal challenges to the firings.

Trump requested that the Supreme Court reverse a lower court's order to temporarily reverse the firing of Office of Special Counsel (OSC) chief Hampton Dellinger. The OSC is in charge of enforcing laws regarding the employment of federal employees, according to Politico.



The Trump administration had dismissed Dellinger, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, on February 7. Dellinger then filed a lawsuit to reclaim his position, citing a federal law that limits the president’s authority to remove special counsel appointees. A federal court sided with Dellinger and ordered the administration to allow his return as the case went on.

An appeals court did not dismiss the district court’s ruling late Sunday evening, leading Trump to go directly to SCOTUS. “This case involves an unprecedented assault on the separation of powers that warrants immediate relief,” Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the application.

She argued that there was “irreparable harm” to Trump’s “ability to manage the Executive Branch in the earliest days of his Administration” because of the lower court’s ruling.

“This Court should not allow the judiciary to govern by temporary restraining order and supplant the political accountability the Constitution ordains,” Harris added, and wrote that Dellinger’s lawsuit “risks further emboldening district courts to issue TROs enjoining the President from undertaking myriad other actions implicating executive powers.”

In a footnote to her Sunday filing, Harris stated that the administration fully complied with the lower court’s order to reinstate Dellinger and would continue to follow court rulings.

"The Executive Branch takes seriously its constitutional duty to comply with the orders of Article III courts, and it has fulfilled that duty here,” she affirmed.

Dellinger’s office enforces whistleblower protections, investigates violations of the Hatch Act, which restricts political activity by federal employees, and handles veterans' discrimination complaints. Though he is titled “special counsel,” his role differs from the special counsels appointed by the Justice Department to handle politically sensitive cases.

A longstanding Supreme Court decision has upheld restrictions on the president’s ability to fire officials of independent federal agencies. However, recent rulings have narrowed this precedent, and some have suggested that Trump’s challenge to the lower court’s ruling could overturn that precedent.