DOJ 47
Dellinger v. Bessent (1:25-cv-00385)

Court dockets

Background

Hampton Dellinger was appointed Special Counsel of the US Office of Special Counsel by Joe Biden. He was sworn in on March 6, 2024.

Donald Trump fired him on February 7, 2025. The firing was in violation of the law, which provides that a special counsel can only be fired due to "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."

Dellinger launched a lawsuit to overturn the firing.

Result

Dellinger ultimately dropped his lawsuit, and accepted his dismissal.

News

SCOTUS waits
2025-02-21

Chris Geidner
BREAKING: SCOTUS, for now, leaves order in place keeping Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger in office. Trump fired him, but Dellinger sued. The government’s request, however, is being kept before the court — on hold for now — since the TRO is set to expire on 2/26.
Although it acknowledges that this Court typically does not have appellate jurisdiction over TROs, the Government urges us to construe the TRO as a preliminary injunction or to exercise jurisdiction under the All Writs Act in light of the core executive power assertedly restrained. Application 31-32; see 28 U.S. C. §1292(a)(1). In his opposition, Dellinger repeatedly notes that the TRO will "expire by its terms [in] eight [now five] days," Response in Opposition 1, that it "lasts only for a very short duration," id., at 15, and that it "is set to expire on February 26," id., at 39. In light of the foregoing, the application to vacate the order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia presented to THE CHIEF JUSTICE and by him referred to the Court is held in abeyance until February 26, when the TRO is set to expire.

Government appeals to SCOTUS
2025-02-16

Chris Geidner
NEW: DOJ goes to SCOTUS, calling the district court's temporary restraining order keeping the head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in his Senate-confirmed role for now "an unprecedented assault on the separation of powers" www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
Case caption: Bessent v. DellingerThis case involves an unprecedented assault on the separation of powers that warrants immediate relief. As this Court observed just last Term, “Congress cannot act on, and courts cannot examine, the President’s actions on subjects within his ‘con- clusive and preclusive’ constitutional authority”—including “the President’s ‘unre- stricted power of removal’ with respect to ‘executive officers of the United States whom [the President] has appointed.’ ” Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593, 609 (2024) (citation omitted). As to such principal officers—“the most important of his 2 subordinates”—“[t]he President’s ‘management of the Executive Branch’ requires him to have ‘unrestricted power to remove’ them ‘in their most important duties.’ ” Id. at 621 (citation omitted). Enjoining the President and preventing him from exer- cising these powers thus inflicts the gravest of injuries on the Executive Branch and the separation of powers.

Government appeal denied
2025-02-15

Read the opinion.

Chris Geidner
DOJ made clear in its DC Circuit request that Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris is likely to take this matter to SCOTUS — which would be wild given that Judge Amy Berman Jackson today agreed to merge the PI and merits review all to be considered still this month in the next two weeks.
Chris Geidner
BREAKING: On a 2-1 vote, the DC Circuit rejects the Trump administration’s request that Trump be allowed to immediately fire Hampton Dellinger, the head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. DOJ asked the appeals court to stay a TRO, which the majority notes would be a “sharp departure” from norms.
United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT No. 25-5028 September Term, 2024 1:25-cv-00385-ABJ Filed On: February 15, 2025 Hampton Dellinger, in his personal capacity and in his official capacity as Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel, Appellee V. Scott Bessent, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Treasury, et al., Appellants BEFORE: Katsas*, Childs, and Pan, Circuit Judges ORDER Upon consideration of the emergency motion for stay and the opposition thereto, it is ORDERED that this appeal be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, the emergency motion for stay be dismissed as moot, and the alternative request for mandamus relief be denied. This case comes before the court on the government's appeal of a temporary restraining order ("TRO") entered by the district court on February 12, 2025, and the government's request that we stay the TRO pending resolution of the appeal. The TRO mandates that Hampton Dellinger "continue to serve as the Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel," even though the President, acting through the Presidential Personnel Office, sought to remove Dellinger from that position on February 7, 2025. Order Granting TRO, Dellinger v. Bessent, 25-cv-385 (ABJ), at 26 (D.D.C. Feb. 12, 2025), ECF No. 14. The TRO is in place for only fourteen days, until February 26, 2025, when the district court will hold a hearing on Dellinger's motion for a preliminary injunction. If granted, a preliminary injunction would extend relief through the pendency of the case, i.e., until the case is resolved on the merits.Although a TRO ordinarily is not an appealable order, the government asks us to make an exception and hear its appeal because the TRO "works an extraordinary harm" and is set to last for fourteen days. Stay Mot. 8-9. Alternatively, the government requests that we construe its stay motion as a petition for a writ of mandamus and grant the petition, which would have the effect of reversing the TRO. The government filed its appeal and stay motion on the evening of February 12, 2025, and requested a ruling from this court within two days, by noon on February 14, 2025, so that the Acting Solicitor General "has the opportunity to seek expeditious review from the Supreme Court if this Court denies relief." Id. at 3. The relief requested by the government is a sharp departure from established procedures that balance and protect the interests of litigants, and ensure the orderly consideration of cases before the district court and this court. … the normal course would be for us to wait for the district court to issue a ruling on the preliminary injunction, which would be immediately appealable. Indeed, many of the issues raised in the stay motion will be addressed by the district court at the preliminary-injunction hearing on February 26, 2025. The district court has promised to issue its preliminary-injunction ruling with "extreme expedition." Moreover, that ruling will rest upon a more complete record for our review, and an appeal of the preliminary-injunction decision will not require us to act within the fourteen-day lifespan of a TRO, in a case that raises weighty constitutional Issues. Because it would be inconsistent with governing legal standards and ill-advised to hold that a TRO is appealable based solely on unsubstantiated claims of "extraordinary harm" for fourteen days, we decline to treat the TRO as an appealable injunction. … We therefore dismiss the appeal, dismiss the stay motion as moot, and deny the petition for a writ of mandamus.KATSAS, Circuit Judge, dissenting: The President removed Hampton Dellinger from his position as Special Counsel, the sole head of a federal agency that wields executive power in prosecuting enforcement actions before the Merit Systems Protection Board. The district court then ordered the President to recognize Dellinger as the agency head for two weeks. Despite the limited duration of that order, I would stay it immediately. As explained below, the President is immune from injunctions directing the performance of his official duties, and Article Il of the Constitution grants him the power to remove agency heads.

TRO granted
2025-02-13

Judge Amy Berman Jackson grants the TRO.

Chris Geidner
If you haven't been following this, here's the law — and here's what Trump did:
The Office of the Special Counsel is led by the Special Counsel, 5 U.S.C. § 1211(a), who is "appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate" to serve "for a term of five years." Id. § 1211(b). Congress requires that the Special Counsel must "be an attorney 5 Filed 02/12/25 Case 1:25-cv-00385-ABJ Document 14 Filed 02/12/25 Page 6 of 27 who, by demonstrated ability, background, training, or experience, is especially qualified to carry out the functions of the position. Id. And, by statute, "[t]he Special Counsel may be removed by the President only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." Id.B. Factual Background On October 3, 2023, President Biden nominated Hampton Dellinger to be Special Counsel. Compl. 430. The Senate confirmed Dellinger on February 27, 2024, and he was sworn into office on March 6, 2024. Compl. 9 30. His five-year term will expire in 2029. Compl. 9 30. At 7:22 p.m. on Friday, February 7, 2025, Sergio N. Gor, identified in his email signature as "Assistant to the President, Director of Presidential Personnel Office" sent Dellinger an email that stated simply: 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." Ex. A to Compl. [Dkt. # 1-1] ("Ex. A").