Trump Removal of Whistleblower Agency Head Blocked by Judge (1)

A federal judge in Washington blocked for now President Donald Trump from removing the head of an independent US agency that protects government whistleblowers.

In a temporary restraining order issued Wednesday night, US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson found that Trump’s removal of Hampton Dellinger on Feb. 7 from the US Office of Special Counsel “plainly” went against US law. The administration didn’t provide any reason for his firing, even though the law requires that the person in that position could only be removed “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,” the judge said.

“This language expresses Congress’s ...