US judge declares Trump’s firing of watchdog agency head illegal
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The judge said that upholding Mr Trump’s ability to fire Mr Hampton Dellinger (pictured) would give him “a constitutional licence to bully officials in the executive branch into doing his will.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - A US judge on March 1 declared President Donald Trump’s firing of the head of a federal watchdog agency illegal in an early test of the scope of presidential power likely to be decided at the US Supreme Court.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington had previously ruled Mr Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel who is responsible for protecting whistleblowers, could remain in his post pending a ruling.
Judge Jackson said in her ruling on March 1 that upholding Mr Trump’s ability to fire Mr Dellinger would give him “a constitutional licence to bully officials in the executive branch into doing his will”.
The Justice Department filed a notice late on March 1 saying they were appealing Judge Jackson’s ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Mr Dellinger, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden and approved by the Senate to a five-year term in 2024, said in an e-mail to Reuters he is “grateful to see the court confirm the importance and legality of the job protections Congress afforded my position”.
He added his “efforts to protect federal employees generally, and whistleblowers in particular, from unlawful treatment will continue”.
Lawyers for the Trump administration have argued that the order keeping Mr Dellinger in place is an encroachment on Mr Trump’s authority over officials serving in his administration.
Judge Jackson, who was named to the bench by President Barack Obama, rejected the contention that the statute is unconstitutional, saying the Special Counsel’s job is to review unethical or unlawful practices directed at federal civil servants and help whistleblowers act without suffering reprisals.
“It would be ironic, to say the least, and inimical to the ends furthered by the statute if the Special Counsel himself could be chilled in his work by fear of arbitrary or partisan removal,” Judge Jackson wrote.
The Trump administration previously urged the US Supreme Court, which has already delayed a ruling in the case, to get involved earlier this week.
Mr Trump has sought to rein in the independence of federal agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Communications Commission, and a ruling in Mr Dellinger’s case could help determine the extent of his authority to do so.
Judge Jackson said her ruling was “extremely narrow” and did not diminish Mr Trump’s powers.
“This is the only single-headed agency left for the courts to consider, and it is unlike any of them,” she wrote.
Acting Solicitor-General Sarah Harris said earlier Mr Dellinger’s continued work as special counsel was harming the Trump administration, pointing to Mr Dellinger’s role on March 25 in halting the firings of six probationary government workers the administration had sought to fire. REUTERS
