Margot Cleveland of the Federalist assesses the impact of one federal judge’s ruling against the Trump administration.
“It is DECLARED that plaintiff Hampton Dellinger is the Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel,” and he “shall be the Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel for the remainder of his five-year term unless and until he is removed in accordance with 5 U.S.C. §1211(b).”
Judge Amy Berman Jackson, a Barack Obama appointee, entered that ruling late Saturday evening in a two-page order. Judge Berman Jackson’s order then further mandated that five executive branch officials “recognize plaintiff’s title and position as Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel,” and “not obstruct or interfere with his performance of his duties.” And just like that, a mere two months into the president’s second term, a solitary federal judge created a constitutional crisis.
Consider the scenario: Donald Trump calls Hampton Dellinger, telling him “I’m firing you again.” The president then directs other officials — not the named defendants — to process Dellinger’s termination papers, to prevent Dellinger’s access to federal property or his former office, and to disconnect Dellinger’s cell phone and computer access.
As Judge Berman Jackson recognized in her accompanying 67-page opinion, federal courts lack the power to enjoin the President of the United States. … Instead, she entered that command against the five defendants in the case. …
… The court’s injunction, by both its terms and general legal principles, binds only those five named defendants. Accordingly, Trump could easily sidestep them to out Dellinger as the special counsel.
Trump won’t do that, though, because the Supreme Court will soon overturn Judge Berman Jackson’s order. But the fact that scenario could play out, launching a revolving door of new defendants ordered by a federal judge to ignore the staffing decisions of the President of the United States, reveals the danger that efforts over the last month to obtain a coup by court order represents to our constitutional republic.
