Staff Reports
The Supreme Court recently decided to put the brakes on one of President Trump’s attempts to fire a federal employee, Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel. This scrum over who gets to clean house in Washington, D.C., showcases yet another legal skirmish in the new administration’s ongoing battle for government reform. Apparently, the Court held off from jumping into the fray, leaving Dellinger in his post for now, at least until a lower court’s decision runs out.
Dellinger, a proud Biden appointee, has the important job of overseeing whistleblowers and prosecuting misconduct. One might wonder how much actual prosecuting and protecting he can do for whistleblowers when he’s merely a speed bump in the road on Trump’s campaign to drain the swamp. The fact that this legal tussle even made it to the Supreme Court shows just how tangled the bureaucracy can become, especially when someone tries to evict a tenant who refuses to leave the federal government.
SCOTUS Folds on First Appeal of New Term, Doesn't Support Trump's Effort to Clean House: It may be that Sotomayor and Jackson are both simply playing for time or trying to make the case as painful as possible for the Trump administration. https://t.co/eaKG6w2wIr pic.twitter.com/ZFQPeHjh07
— The Western Journal (@WestJournalism) February 24, 2025
In a twist of irony, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson have tossed in their two cents, indicating they’d prefer to dump the administration’s appeal altogether. On the other hand, conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito seem to be in tune with the spirit of executive authority, arguing for Trump’s right to remove someone he deems unfit for his administration. Gorsuch’s remarks regarding the overreach of a federal judge who wants to dictate personnel decisions for a president are a refreshing take in a court that’s often seen as divided along ideological lines.
The Trump administration has been frustrated by pesky federal judges getting in the way of his plans to streamline a bloated bureaucracy. It’s as if the federal court system is doubling down on its role as the administrative state’s watchdog, posing hurdles while Team Trump tries to fire employees, curb waste, and dismantle the agencies that many believe contribute little to the nation’s welfare. Given the outcome of this case, one might wonder if a dedicated pro-swamper war room exists in the back offices of the federal judiciary, conspiring to keep the status quo intact.
As always, the brinksmanship of the legal arena has its proponents and naysayers. While Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris has argued that a district court is stepping into territory it has no business occupying, Dellinger’s legal team claims that the Supreme Court should not be dealing with the issue at this point. When did judicial accountability become so complicated? It’s unclear whether the Court’s hands-off approach to this particular case will embolden more lawsuits or put a stop to the rampant legal challenges from the Biden camp. Whatever the outcome, the drama over who’s steamrolling through the bureaucratic muck will undoubtedly continue, leaving the American public to wonder if any real change is possible amidst the chaos.
