OFFICE OF SPECIAL CONSIDERATION: A federal judge ruled Saturday that President Donald Trump’s firing of a federal workforce watchdog was illegal — teeing up a Supreme Court showdown over the president’s claim to nearly absolute control of the executive branch, our Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson concluded that Hampton Dellinger — confirmed last year as head of the Office of Special Counsel — may continue to serve his five-year term despite Trump’s effort to remove him from the post via email last month. Jackson ruled that Dellinger’s duties, which include holding executive branch officials accountable for ethics breaches and fielding whistleblower complaints, were meant to be independent from the president, making the position a rare exception to the president’s generally vast domain over the executive branch. Dellinger’s “independence is inextricably intertwined with the performance of his duties,” Jackson wrote in a 67-page opinion. “The elimination of the restrictions on plaintiff’s removal would be fatal to the defining and essential feature of the Office of Special Counsel as it was conceived by Congress and signed into law by the President: its independence. The Court concludes that they must stand.” INDIRECT BLOW: Ray Limon, a Democratic appointee on the Merit Systems Protection Board, announced his retirement Friday as his term on the three-person panel expired, the agency announced. With Limon gone, the board is down to Democratic Chair Cathy Harris and Republican Henry Kerner, though Trump fired Harris in mid-February and designated Kerner chair in her place. A federal judge quickly reinstated Harris on a temporary basis pending further litigation. MSPB, typically a low-profile agency, hears appeals filed by federal workers challenging adverse employment actions that allegedly violate civil service rules. The board can still rule on cases without a third member, but it opens the door to partisan deadlocks that can leave cases unresolved for extended stretches — a dire prospect for the reams of rank-and-file employees put out of work by the Trump administration seeking to reverse their terminations. And if Trump succeeds in court to oust Harris, the MSPB would be without a quorum until the White House nominates replacements and the Senate confirms them, stymying things even further. CHOPS COME TO SSA: The Social Security Administration said Friday it intends to trim more than 10 percent of its headcount by cutting 7,000 employees from its roughly 57,000 workforce. “The agency plans to reduce the size of its bloated workforce and organizational structure, with a significant focus on functions and employees who do not directly provide mission critical services,” the agency said in a release, adding that “[r]umor of a 50 percent reduction is false.” It said it would also close six of its 10 regional offices, leaving four. SSA in recent days has also said it would shutter its Office of Transformation, which is labeled “wasteful,” and the “duplicative” Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity. Staffers in both branches were put on administrative leave as a result. — Related: “Top Social Security deputies leave amid rumored staff cuts,” from The Government Executive. More agency news: “Trump Labor Department appeals ruling that blocked Biden overtime pay rule,” from Reuters.
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