The Supreme Court Friday upheld a lower-court order that allowed the head of a key federal whistleblower agency to remain in office after the Trump administration attempted to fire him without cause earlier this month.
It’s the first legal challenge from President Donald Trump’s second term to reach the Supreme Court, giving us insight into the GOP-controlled court’s receptiveness to his sweeping assertions of presidential power and his bid to consolidate power over the executive branch.
It also previews how the justices may rule if they consider some of the legal challenges against the Trump administration’s broad dismissals across the federal government.
The Supreme Court’s order stemmed from the Trump administration firing Hampton Dellinger, head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an independent, non-partisan federal agency that combats political corruption and protects government employees and whistleblowers.
The Trump administration fired Dellinger Feb. 7 through a pithy, one-sentence email that stated no reason for his dismissal. “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,” the email read.
Dellinger promptly sued, claiming that the administration broke federal law that prevents the president from removing the special counsel for reasons other than inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance.
A district court judge then...
Legislators in Sacramento, California, are mulling over one of the most (if not the most) troubling state and local tax bills of the past decade. Senate Bill (SB) 799, introduced earlier this year...