SCOTUS temporarily thwarts Trump effort to fire Hampton Dellinger

President Donald Trump has wasted little time in taking dramatic steps to reshape the federal government to better fit his policy agenda, though he encountered a bit of an obstacle last week at the nation's highest court.

As the Daily Caller explains, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday determined that Hampton Dellinger of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel will retain his position -- at least for the time being -- despite Trump's push to fire him from the role.

Battle over firing ensues

It was back on Feb. 7 that Trump moved to relieve Dellinger -- a Joe Biden appointee -- of his duties inside the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which include protecting government whistleblowers and addressing misconduct in federal workplaces.

Not long after, Dellinger filed suit to block the firing, and he quicky prevailed in the lower court and won the right to remain in his job for the time being.

At that point, the Trump administration lodged an emergency petition of its own with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking final resolution of Dellinger's status.

Unfortunately for the administration, the outcome at the high court -- at least for now -- was not what the president wanted.

A majority of the justices declined to greenlight Dellinger's firing, permitting him to remain in place pending further proceedings in the matter.

Justices disappoint Trump

Solicitor General Sarah Harris, in her arguments on behalf of the administration, wrote, “When a district court crosses a constitutional red line and purports to bar the President from replacing an agency head he does not want to entrust with executive power -- potentially for up to a month -- this Court can and should intervene.”

“Until now, as far as we are away, no court in American history has wielded an injunction to force the President to retain an agency head whom the President believes should not be entrusted with executive power and to prevent the President from relying on his preferred placement,” Harris declared.

On the other hand, Dellinger's lawyers disputed the notion that the Supreme Court had jurisdiction over the matter at all, stating that temporary orders are not typically appealable at this stage and that it was important to avoid “premature escalation of politically fraught disputes” such as this one.

In a blow to the administration's wishes, the high court, as The Hill explains, “held in abeyance” the president's application to proceed with Dellinger's firing, instead waiting until the lower court order's scheduled Wednesday expiration.

Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson signaled their belief that the administration request should be denied outright while Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch indicated that they would have negated Dellinger's reinstatement by the lower court.

What comes next?

Pursuant to the lower court order at issue and the justice's decision not to intervene, the matter of Dellinger's firing remains on hold until Feb. 26.

On that day, another hearing is scheduled at which a further pause on the firing will be discussed, and precisely where this dispute goes -- and its potential impact on a host of other Trump-planned firings of Democrat agency appointees -- only time will tell.