In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has issued its first ruling on President Trump’s exertion of executive power during his second term. The court decided on Friday that, for now, Trump cannot remove a government lawyer who is responsible for leading the watchdog agency that protects whistleblowers.
The court's brief, unsigned order suggests that this issue may be revisited soon. It was noted that a trial judge’s temporary restraining order, which currently protects the lawyer, Hampton Dellinger, is due to expire next week.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed their stance by stating that they would have outright rejected the Trump administration’s plea for Supreme Court intervention. On the other hand, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, with the support of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., filed a dissent against the majority's decision.
Justice Gorsuch articulated that the majority likely acted as it did due to the nature of temporary restraining orders like the one in this case, which generally cannot be appealed. He noted that it "may not yet have ripened into an appealable order." However, he expressed his disagreement by stating, “Respectfully, I believe that it has, and that each additional day where the order stands only serves to confirm the point.”
This ruling comes amid a flurry of executive actions by President Trump, including efforts to remove thousands of federal employees, many of whom are in positions traditionally thought to be protected from summary dismissal.
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