The US Supreme Court declined for now to let President Donald Trump oust the head of a federal whistleblower agency, letting the official stay in the job until at least Wednesday.

In a splintered decision, the high court declined to rule directly on Trump’s bid to lift a trial judge’s order that is keeping Hampton Dellinger in his job at the Office of Special Counsel. But the court said that order could stay in place until it expires on Wednesday, the same day the judge will hold a hearing to consider what steps to take next.

The high court decision came in Trump’s first foray there since he started his second term with a torrent of measures designed to transform the government and assert sweeping presidential power. The Dellinger fight is part of a broader Trump effort to seize control of independent federal agencies.

The court gave only a limited explanation. It said Trump’s request would be “held in abeyance until February 26,” noting the “very short duration” of the temporary restraining order.

Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have rejected Trump’s bid to vacate the restraining order, while conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have granted the president’s request.

In its request, the administration urged the court to send a message to judges managing at least a dozen requests to pause White House initiatives involving the federal workforce, government spending, citizenship rights and Elon Musk’s...

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