WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of a federal watchdog agency must remain in his job, a judge in Washington ruled on Saturday, saying President Donald Trump’s bid to remove the special counsel was unlawful.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sided with Hampton Dellinger, who leads the Office of Special Counsel, in a legal battle over the president’s authority to oust the head of the independent agency that’s likely headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dellinger sued Trump last month after he was fired, even though the law says special counsels can be removed by the president “only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Jackson, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic president Barack Obama, quickly reinstated Dellinger in the job while he pursued his case.

Jackson rejected the Trump administration’s claims that the special counsel’s removal protections are unconstitutional because they prevent the president from rightfully installing his preferred agency head.

The judge said allowing the president to remove the special counsel at will would have a chilling effect on his crucial duties, which include guarding the federal workforce from illegal personnel actions, such as retaliation for whistleblowing.

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