The administration is hoping that SCOTUS will help take the federal courts off their back. Fresh DOJ attorneys just filed their first brief in the Supreme Court, “using an emergency appeal to call on the justices to let him fire the head of a government ethics watchdog agency.” There’s a lot of moving parts to the dispute, which experts note makes any outcome difficult to project.
See what SCOTUS says
SCOTUS needs to weigh in as referee and issue a ruling. President Donald Trump is making America great again at such breakneck speed that administration officials are scrambling to figure out which guardrails, if any, were bent out of shape and plowed through.
The official position is that it doesn’t matter anyway, because the president is rushing to rescue Lady Liberty from the evil forces of Deep State darkness.
Democrats have news alerts set up for the case of Bessent v. Dellinger. SCOTUS has been asked to consider the matter to clarify whether “presidents can fire anyone seen as a potential critic.”
The left insists his hands are tied because “Congress may create independent agencies that are protected from the whims of the White House.” It’s an interesting question.
Trump’s in the process of trimming the deadwood from the federal payroll. At the top of the list are anyone connected with liberal fetishes for diversity, equity or inclusion.
SCOTUS has been asked to look at what’s considered a test case. The decision on this one will affect a bunch more. The big mistake Trump made in firing Hampton Dellinger was not specifically saying he was fired for not doing his job.
Picky technicalities
Dellinger was named by Joe Biden in 2023 as head of an “Office of Special Counsel.” It was supposed to be a five-year term and his appointment was confirmed by the Senate. His office is totally unrelated to the political witch hunters like Jack Smith or Robert Mueller. Those are “appointed to oversee politically sensitive Justice Department investigations.”
SCOTUS has nothing to say about those and Trump can do as he pleases with them. Dellinger was to handle “allegations of whistleblower retaliation and is an independent agency.” It’s clear from what happened during the Hunter Biden investigation that Dellinger wasn’t protecting the IRS whistleblowers. That’s only one example of abuse.
Congress made clear during the Carter administration that the special counsel could be removed “by the president only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Any or all of them seem to apply in Dellinger’s case.
There’s only one problem. The White House didn’t spell that out in writing. SCOTUS may make them go back and touch that base while upholding Dellinger’s removal.
“The director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office fired Dellinger on February 7 in a brief email. The email cited none of those for-cause requirements that Congress required.” Democrats jump out from behind the bush and yell “gotcha!”
Team Trump argues back that he’s doing what he promised to do and is trimming federal government. SCOTUS, Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris argued, “should not allow lower courts to seize executive power by dictating to the president how long he must continue employing an agency head against his will.“
