‘Satisfied the stringent requirements’: Trump given free rein to boot Biden ethics enforcer who helped block mass firings

Left: Hampton Dellinger (Office of Special Counsel). Right: President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak at a meeting of the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

Left: Hampton Dellinger (Office of Special Counsel). Right: President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak at a meeting of the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has given President Donald Trump the green light to finally fire Hampton Dellinger, a booted-then-reinstated ethics enforcer who led the Office of Special Counsel, following weeks of legal jousting and the threat of a Supreme Court battle.

A three-judge panel for the D.C. Circuit unanimously agreed on Wednesday to let Trump terminate Dellinger, who was appointed by Joe Biden in 2024 to enforce whistleblower laws, roughly a month after he tried axing the OSC head in a one-sentence email.

Dellinger fought the firing with a lawsuit filed in federal court, which led to a temporary restraining order (TRO) being issued by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Feb. 12 and extended by her until last Saturday, when Jackson ruled in favor of letting Dellinger stay on board at OSC for the rest of his five-year term, which was set to end in March 2029.

Jackson’s decision came after multiple failed attempts to get her TRO tossed last month, including an unsuccessful bid in the appeals court. Judges Karen Henderson, Justin Walker and Patricia Millett saw things differently, though, when it came time for them to rule on the merits of Dellinger’s firing.

“Appellants have satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending appeal,” the panel said Wednesday, noting how an opinion would “follow in due course” at a later date. “This order gives effect to the removal of appellee from his position as Special Counsel of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.”

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