Hampton Dellinger, shown here in June 2024, leads the Office of Special Counsel. He was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed for a five-year term ending in 2029. C-SPAN/SCREENGRAB GOVEXEC
Official who fought to reinstate fired probationary feds can be removed during legal fight, court says
A federal judge had ruled that President Donald Trump’s firing of Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger was unlawful, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit determined that he could be removed while they weigh the case.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday temporarily vacated a district judge’s decision to block the Trump administration from firing Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger while the three-judge panel hears the appeal.
The judges — respectively appointed by George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump — ordered that the case be expedited. Briefing materials are due by April 11.
Dellinger, who will be barred from serving as special counsel in the interim, earlier Wednesday secured the temporary reinstatement of thousands of probationary employees at the Agriculture Department after determining that the mass firings of recently hired, promoted or transferred government workers were unlawful.
On Feb. 7, Dellinger received a termination notice from the White House without a justification for the firing. His lawsuit argues that special counsels can only be removed for "inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
Dellinger was appointed by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2024 for a five-year term.
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