On February 21, the U.S. Supreme Court chose not to weigh in on President Trump’s firing of Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, after a district court found that the Trump administration violated the law in firing Dellinger without cause and temporarily ordered Dellinger to remain as Special Counsel. While the Trump administration appealed the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) ordered by the district court, the Supreme Court decided to hold the appeal in abeyance until February 26, when the TRO is set to expire.
As the head of Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Dellinger oversees the agency responsible for protecting federal employee whistleblowers and investigating their concerns. He was terminated by the White House late on February 7 and then sued to stop the firing, arguing that under the law, the Special Counsel “may be removed by the President only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” In its brief email alerting Dellinger to his firing, the White House did not cite any of these issues.
“I am glad to be able to continue my work as an independent government watchdog and whistleblower advocate,” Dellinger said in statement. “I am grateful to the judges and justices who have concluded that I should be allowed to remain on the job while the courts decide whether my office can retain a measure of independence from direct partisan and political control.”
“The future of federal employee whistleblowing hangs in the balance,” says Stephen M. Kohn, Chairman of the Board of National Whistleblower Center. “If the Special Counsel is not independent, that office will become a trap and the confidentiality of whistleblowers will not be protected.”
“This is not a partisan issue,” Kohn added. “It is simply an issue of whether federal employees can report waste fraud and abuse.”
National Whistleblower Center has launched an emergency campaign in response to the
wrongful termination of Special Counsel Dellinger. They are urging supporters to join them and to contact their Representatives and Senators immediately and express their concern on the issue.