Federal Watchdog Head Drops Lawsuit Challenging His Dismissal

Hampton Dellinger, the former head of a key federal whistleblower agency, dropped a lawsuit challenging his removal by President Donald Trump.

Dellinger ended his legal battle over his dismissal a day after the D.C. Court of Appeals granted the Trump administration’s request to stay a lower court’s order that reinstated him as the head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).

The lower court found last week that Trump exceeded his authority and violated federal law in dismissing Dellinger without cause last month. The 1978 law that created the OSC prevents the president from removing the special counsel for reasons other than inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance.

In a statement, Dellinger said he accepted but “strongly” disagreed with the circuit court’s decision, adding that he believed its ruling meant that the OSC “will be run by someone totally beholden to the President for the months that would pass before I could get a final decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.”

“I think the circuit judges erred badly because their willingness to sign off on my ouster — even if presented as possibly temporary — immediately erases the independence Congress provided for my position,” Dellinger said.

Dellinger said he also believed he faced “long” odds of ultimately prevailing if the case formally went before the Supreme Court.

It’s a major blow to other federal workers caught up in the Trump administration’s efforts to remake the federal government, as Dellinger in recent weeks worked to reverse some of the administration’s recent mass firings.

“You deserve better, much better, than your recent unfair and unlawful treatment from too many parts of the United States government,” Dellinger, speaking to federal workers, said in his statement.