The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused on Feb. 12 to hear the Trump administration’s appeal of a court stay, allowing the head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Hampton Dellinger, to remain in his position until Thursday at midnight. The order was intended to give a judge time to weigh whether President Donald Trump unlawfully fired Dellinger.
The court argued that the Trump administration failed to prove the stay granted an injunction, which would have made it appealable.
The OSC is the federal agency tasked with investigating and prosecuting government and political corruption.
Trump dismissed Dellinger on Feb. 7 in a one-sentence email. On Feb. 10, Dellinger filed a lawsuit challenging the dismissal, arguing Trump had run afoul of federal law requiring a cause to be outlined when firing a special counsel. Dellinger requested a temporary restraining order reinstating him.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson entered an order granting the administrative stay, which required the government to keep Dellinger on as special counsel and allow him access to the resources and materials of that office. It also prohibited the government from recognizing Trump’s naming of the secretary of veterans affairs, Doug Collins, as acting special counsel.
The stay was designed to give the court time to review the case and make a permanent decision.
The Trump administration appealed Jackson’s three-day administrative stay, but the appeal was dismissed on Feb. 12 for lack of jurisdiction. The administration raised separation-of-powers concerns in its appeal, arguing it had the authority to dismiss Dellinger.
Katsas notes that Article II of the Constitution prevents Congress from restricting the president’s ability to remove officers serving as the only heads of agencies with significant executive power.
The White House did not reply to a request for comment by publication time.
