Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Trump's Firing of Whistleblower Agency Chief

The court's decision keeps Hampton Dellinger in his role as special counsel while legal challenges to his dismissal proceed.

The Supreme Court declined to lift a lower court's temporary restraining order reinstating Hampton Dellinger as head of the Office of Special Counsel until February 26.
President Trump fired Dellinger on February 7, citing executive authority, but Dellinger challenged the dismissal as unlawful under federal law protecting the role's independence.
The Justice Department argued that the district court’s decision to reinstate Dellinger represented an unprecedented overreach into presidential authority.
The case raises significant constitutional questions about the president's power to remove agency heads and the balance of executive and judicial authority.
A district court hearing on February 26 will determine whether to issue a preliminary injunction, which could be appealed back to the Supreme Court.