President Donald Trump and Hampton Dellinger. Trump is trying to dismiss Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel. (AP / Reuters)
Jackson claimed that the court "finds that the elimination of the restrictions on plaintiff’s removal would be fatal to the defining and essential feature of the Office of Special Counsel as it was conceived by Congress and signed into law by the President: its independence. The Court concludes that they must stand."
Journalists work outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Earlier in February, liberal Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson voted to outright deny the administration’s request to approve the firing.
Conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito dissented, saying the lower court overstepped. They also cast doubt on whether courts have the authority to restore to office someone the president has fired. While acknowledging that some officials appointed by the president have contested their removal, Gorsuch wrote in his opinion that "those officials have generally sought remedies like backpay, not injunctive relief like reinstatement."
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-appeals-court-sides-trump-firing-head-watchdog-agency