Trump sued after quietly firing top whistleblower protector

President Trump late Friday fired the leader of an office designed to protect government whistleblowers, a detail revealed in a Monday lawsuit from the head of the Office of the Special Counsel (OSC).

Hampton Dellinger, appointed by former President Biden, said he was fired from his post “in a one-sentence email,” a move that violates his appointment to a five-year term in the office.

The OSC both provides another avenue for whistleblowers to report concerns of government wrongdoing and works to protect them from reprisal. It also responds to potential violations of the Hatch Act, the law that guards against electioneering by federal employees.

Dellinger’s attorneys argue his firing violates laws stating he may only be removed for cause, while undercutting the very agency designed to review a growing list of other recent firings.

“The recent spate of terminations of protected civil service employees under the new presidential administration has created controversies, both about the lawfulness of these actions and about potential retaliation against whistleblowers. The OSC is statutorily tasked with receiving such reports, investigating them, and taking appropriate action,” the suit says.

“The President’s unlawful attempt to remove Special Counsel Dellinger from his office directly violates the modest but vital protections that Congress put in place and renders the OSC and the Special Counsel unable to fulfill their statutory mandate.”

The suit from Dellinger asks for a temporary order to bar his removal. It was randomly assigned to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an appointee of former President Obama.

The creation of the Office of Special Counsel bars the removal of its leader other than in cases of “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

Dellinger’s firing comes after Trump fired 17 different inspectors general housed at 18 agencies across government, another position that responds to whistleblower complaints while also reviewing potential waste, fraud and abuse.

Also fired Friday were Federal Elections Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub, the head of the National Archives, and numerous board members at the Kennedy Center.

Democrats have feared targeting of both inspectors general and the Office of the Special Counsel since the earliest days of Trump taking office.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, wrote to Dellinger on Trump’s second full day in office, asking the agency to contact the panel’s Democrats “any time your independence or transparency is undermined.”

“The Trump-Musk assault on the civil service is unlawful, outrageous, and destabilizing.  Mr. Dellinger has every right to fight what appears to be an illegal termination,” Connolly said in a Monday statement.

“It is unsurprising that the independent Special Counsel, charged with protecting public servants from abuse and wrongful termination, finds himself targeted by Co-Presidents Trump and Musk in their crusade against checks and balances.  If the Trump-Musk Administration refuses to protect whistleblowers, rest assured Congress will.”

Dellinger’s suit argues its independence has been attacked.

“The OSC’s ability to protect the civil service and investigate alleged misconduct is needed now more than ever,” the suit argues.

“Over the preceding three weeks, an unprecedented number of federal employees with civil service protections have been terminated without cause. Senior career officials have been purged from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Eighteen Inspectors General from across the federal government have been removed without the justification required by statute. And hundreds of federal employees have been locked out of their computer systems.”

Updated at 4:30 p.m.