ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The administration of U.S. President, Donald Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court to remove Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel.
Special Counsel is an agency responsible for protecting federal employees and whistleblowers, according to U.S. media reports.
This marks the first time Trump has turned to the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority, as his administration faces legal challenges while pursuing deep public spending cuts and agency restructuring.
The White House dismissed Dellinger on February 7, but he sued the president, and a district court ruled that he should be reinstated, Channels Television reports.
On Saturday, the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration’s request to overturn that ruling, prompting an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.
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In its Supreme Court filing on Sunday, the Trump administration described the lower court’s ruling as an unprecedented assault on the separation of powers that warrants immediate relief.”
The appeal further argued: “Until now, as far as we are aware, no court in American history has wielded an injunction to force the President to retain an agency head whom the President believes should not be entrusted with executive power and to prevent the President from relying on his preferred replacement.”
The administration warned that the ruling exemplifies “a broader, weeks-long trend,” urging the Supreme Court to “not allow the judiciary to govern by temporary restraining order and supplant the political accountability the Constitution ordains.”
Since beginning his second term last month, President Trump has launched an aggressive campaign, backed by top donor Elon Musk, to downsize or dismantle large portions of the U.S. government.
However, his efforts have faced mounting legal resistance, with approximately 40 lawsuits leading to a dozen court orders against his administration.
Among the contested policies are: A $3 trillion freeze on federal grants and loans, a plan to revoke birthright citizenship, a programme to send Venezuelan migrants to Guantanamo Bay, a policy shifting transgender women inmates to men’s prisons.
Others are; The suspension of government workers under a deferred resignation program, cuts to funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), placing workers from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on leave
