On Feb. 7, leader of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger was fired by President Donald Trump. Some may wonder what the OSC is, and Trump’s motivation for this decision. Here are the facts for those who may be confused.
What is the Office of Special Counsel?
The Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal agency that works to defend federal employees and limit government control by enforcing checks and balances, a system that is integral to democracy.
“OSC's primary mission is to safeguard the merit system by protecting federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices (PPPs), especially reprisal for whistleblowing,” the OSC states.
There are fourteen prohibited personnel practices, which can be found here. The PPPs are: discrimination, considering inappropriate recommendations, coercing political activity, obstructing competition, influence withdrawal from competition, granting unauthorized advantages, nepotism, whistleblower retaliation, other retaliation, other discrimination, veterans preference, violating rules that implement a merit system principle, imposing nondisclosure agreement that does not allow whistleblowing and accessing medical records in furtherance of another PPP.
One of the most vital resources they provide to federal employees is to protect whistleblowers and offer a safe space to report wrongdoing. The OSC will then investigate the organization that has complaints registered against it and ensure that no wrongdoing is occurring, and if it is, they also deal with it swiftly.
They receive claims throughout the year and investigate in due time. Last year, they received a large amount of cases.
“During the [2024] fiscal year, OSC received 6,251 new cases, the highest in agency history and 45 percent more cases than the average of the previous five fiscal years,” OSC stated.
The counsel also provided highlights about their transparency and accountability efforts, as well as investigations into violations of various codes.
Who is Hampton Dellinger?
Hampton Dellinger is the leader of the OSC and was appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2024, where he was confirmed for a 5-year term. In normal circumstances, his term would end in 2029. However, the Trump administration fired him in early February of 2025.
He received his Bachelor in Arts from the University of Michigan, and his Juris Doctor from Yale University. Dellinger has been involved in politics since the early 2000s, where he worked his way up to federal law.
From 2021 to 2023, he served as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, and he soon became part of the OSC a year after.
Why did Trump fire him?
It is not entirely known why Trump chose to fire Dellinger, but Dellinger quickly responded by suing the president three days later on Feb. 10 for ignoring a federal law that states Dellinger could only be fired from his position due to poor performance, something that was not discussed in the e-mail that fired him.
According to PBS, he has been temporarily reinstated to his position until Feb. 26.
“After Dellinger sued to block his removal from office, a district judge in Washington, D.C., temporarily reinstated him in an order that expires on Feb. 26. A federal appeals court panel refused to intervene,” PBS said.
The Justice Department swiftly issued a statement claiming that Trump has “unbridled power to fire the heads of independent agencies,” according to PBS. This is due to last year’s Supreme Court decision to give Trump immunity from criminal prosecution.
AP also touched on the topic of Dellinger's firing, explaining that it was U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson who extended his position temporarily.
According to AP, “The judge said Dellinger must be allowed to serve as special counsel through midnight on Thursday while she considers his request for a temporary restraining order to keep him in the job. She said the Trump administration cannot ‘deny him access to the resources or materials of that office or recognize the authority of any other person as Special Counsel.’”
The Trump administration was quick to file court papers to appeal the judge’s orders.
On top of firing Dellinger, the Trump administration also fired the Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, David Huitema. Before Dellinger's reinstatement, the administration confirmed that Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins was the acting leader for both agencies.
“It’s all being done with a stop-me-if-you-dare defiance by a president who the first time around felt hemmed in by watchdogs, lawyers and judges tasked with affirming good government and fair play. Now, he seems determined to break those constraints once and for all in a historically unprecedented flex of executive power,” AP states.
While there is still information to come after Feb. 26 to see if Dellinger will be reinstated, it is clear that the Trump administration is targeting federal organizations that focus on ethics, protection of federal workers’ right and preventing an abuse of government power.
