JONATHAN TURLEY: Judge's Special Counsel ruling may be the setback Trump admin was looking for
Opinion by Jonathan Turley
Late Saturday, Washington D.C. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that President Donald Trump violated federal law in firing Hampton Dellinger, head of the Office of Special Counsel. Jackson’s decision is forceful, well-written, and arguably wrong under existing precedent. Indeed, it may have just set up an appeal that both presidents and professors have long waited for to reinforce presidential powers.
FEDERAL JUDGE RULES TRUMP'S FIRING OF HEAD OF SPECIAL COUNSEL WAS UNLAWFUL
Appointed by President Joe Biden, and the son of the respected liberal scholar and Clinton acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger, Hampton Dellinger was confirmed by the Senate for a five-year term beginning in 2024. He sued after receiving an email with a perfunctory termination notice shortly after Trump's inauguration. The various inspector generals were also terminated and, at the time, some of us raised concerns over compliance with underlying federal statutes. The issue was not likely the outcome, but the process for such removals. However, while many objected to the helter-skelter approach to such terminations, there may be a method to this madness. Indeed, this ruling may be precisely what the Trump administration is seeking as the foundation for a major new constitutional challenge.
Dellinger’s claim is based in large part on the Civil Service Reform Act, which provides that the Special Counsel "may be removed by the President only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." 5 U.S.C. 1211(b). The notice gave none of these grounds for the termination even though "inefficiency" and "neglect" are a fairly ambiguous and malleable rationale.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/jonathan-turley-judge-s-special-counsel-ruling-may-be-the-setback-trump-admin-was-looking-for/ar-AA1A5OQE?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6e9839b8dd5449559c55ce01994d593b&ei=100
