Updated February 10, 2025 at 22:04 PM ET
A judge on Monday granted a temporary reprieve to the leader of an independent federal ethics agency who filed a lawsuit claiming he was illegally fired by President Trump.
The move by Trump was the latest attempted removal of a political appointee that may violate the law.
The Office of Special Counsel investigates and prosecutes violations of "prohibited personnel practices" like whistleblower retaliation, enforces ethics laws like the Hatch Act, and protects employment rights of military veterans.
The office's leader, Hampton Dellinger, filed a lawsuit Monday in Washington, D.C., federal court after receiving a termination email Friday night.
"That email made no attempt to comply with the Special Counsel's for-cause removal protection," Dellinger's suit reads. "It stated simply: 'On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Special Counsel of the US Office of Special Counsel is terminated, effective immediately.' "
Federal law says the special counsel may be removed by the president "only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."
On Monday evening, Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued an order that did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit, but said that Dellinger should continue in his role through midnight on Thursday.
In a statement, Dellinger said: "I am grateful to have the opportunity to continue leading the Office of Special Counsel and I am resuming my work tonight."
Dellinger was nominated to serve a five-year term by former President Joe Biden in 2023 and confirmed by the Senate in 2024.
Neither the White House nor the Department of Justice has responded to requests for comment on the case. The lawsuit was first reported by Politico.
And the Office of Government Ethics said in a post on its website Monday that Trump is removing David Huitema as director of that agency. Huitema was also nominated by Biden, and confirmed by the Senate in November 2024.
Trump told reporters Monday he was making new Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins acting head of both the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Special Counsel.
Many politically appointed positions within the federal government see turnover when a new administration takes over, but Trump's return to office has been marked by a wave of controversial removals that appear to flout federal regulations as part of a larger project of remaking — and sometimes breaking — the government.
That includes a Democratic member of the Federal Election Commission, who said last week Trump purported to remove her; Trump's suggestion he would name himself chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and remove other board members; and a suit from an ousted National Labor Relations Board member who said Trump's firing broke the law.
NPR Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson contributed reporting.
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