Trump fired Office of Special Counsel Director Hampton Dellinger without statutory cause, disabling federal whistleblower protection agency
On February 7, 2025, President Trump fired Hampton Dellinger, director of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), via a one-sentence email from a White House personnel aide citing no cause. Federal statute limits OSC director removal to cases of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance — grounds the termination notice did not invoke. The OSC is the primary federal agency responsible for investigating whistleblower retaliation, enforcing the Hatch Act, and protecting the employment rights of military veterans.
Actors
On February 7, 2025, President Trump fired Hampton Dellinger as director of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) via a one-sentence email sent by Trent Morse, the White House deputy director of presidential personnel, stating: "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." No cause was cited in the termination notice.
Federal law (5 U.S.C. § 1211(b)) expressly limits the president's authority to remove the special counsel to cases of "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." The OSC is an independent federal agency established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, with three core functions: investigating and prosecuting prohibited personnel practices including whistleblower retaliation; enforcing the Hatch Act against partisan political activity by federal employees; and protecting the employment rights of military veterans. Dellinger had been nominated by President Biden in 2023 and confirmed by the Senate in February 2024 to a five-year term. At the time of his removal, the OSC was actively investigating the Trump administration's mass firings of probationary federal employees for compliance with whistleblower protection rules. Trump named VA Secretary Doug Collins as acting head of both the OSC and the Office of Government Ethics.
The Dellinger firing was part of a broader pattern of removals targeting the federal oversight infrastructure: 17 inspectors general were fired on January 24; NLRB and EEOC members were removed January 27–28; and OGE Director David Huitema and MSPB Chair Cathy Harris were removed on February 10. Each removal displaced an official whose statutory independence had been designed by Congress to insulate oversight functions from executive pressure.
Updates
2025-02-10 — Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued TRO reinstating Dellinger after he sued over his firing
Dellinger filed suit in D.C. federal court. Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a temporary restraining order reinstating him, finding the removal appeared to violate his statutory protections.
2025-03-05 — D.C. Circuit allowed removal to proceed; Dellinger dropped lawsuit
After the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the removal to proceed, Dellinger dropped his lawsuit. The administration's removal stood, and Collins remained as acting OSC director.
Why we recorded this
The Office of Special Counsel is the federal government's principal whistleblower protection agency, created by Congress to give employees a safe channel for reporting waste, fraud, and abuse free from retaliation by the agencies they oversee. Federal statute (5 U.S.C. § 1211(b)) limits the president's authority to remove the OSC director to cases of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance — protections Congress created specifically to ensure the agency's independence from the executive branch it polices. Trump's removal of Dellinger without citing any statutory cause violated that limit while the OSC was actively investigating the administration's mass probationary employee firings, eliminating an independent check on the administration at the precise moment it faced scrutiny.
Sources
- Judge grants top whistleblower advocate reprieve after he sued Trump over firing — NPR primary accessed June 29, 2026
- Trump's power to fire executive branch officials will be tested in another lawsuit — Politico primary accessed June 29, 2026
See also
- OPM directed agencies to fire 25,000+ probationary federal employees, bypassing statutory RIF procedures
- Trump administration fires 4,200 federal workers via shutdown RIFs, wielding budget lapse as workforce reduction tool
- EPA illegally terminates $2.8B Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program
- Trump fired 17 Senate-confirmed inspectors general without the 30-day congressional notice required by law
- Trump removed FEC Chair Weintraub without cause, asserting presidential removal power the agency's statute does not grant