US watchdog agency chief removed after appeals court approves firing by Trump

(Reuters) -The head of a federal watchdog agency was removed from his post on Wednesday after a federal appeals court cleared the way for President Donald Trump to fire him.

Hampton Dellinger, the former head of the Office of Special Counsel, told Reuters he was fired but declined to comment further.

In an unsigned order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit paused a lower court order that had reinstated Dellinger after Trump fired him without explanation.

The Wednesday ruling is temporary while the appeals court weighs the merits of the case.

White House representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The decision came the same day that a board that reviews firings of federal workers reinstated thousands of U.S. Department of Agriculture employees at the request of Dellinger, who said the dismissals were illegal.

Trump fired Dellinger on February 7 without providing a reason, part of the Republican's wide-ranging shake-up of the federal government. Dellinger was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden.

Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris said Dellinger's continued work as special counsel was harming the Trump administration, pointing to Dellinger's role in halting the firings of six probationary government workers the administration had sought to dismiss.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington previously declared Dellinger's firing illegal and said he could remain at his post while his legal challenge played out.

Jackson said in her ruling that upholding Trump's action would give him "a constitutional license to bully officials in the executive branch into doing his will."

The Office of Special Counsel allows whistleblowers to make disclosures about alleged misconduct within federal agencies and investigates complaints of retaliation. It also enforces a U.S. law known as the Hatch Act that limits political participation by federal employees.

The Supreme Court at an earlier stage in the case declined on February 21 to let Trump immediately fire Dellinger while litigation proceeded in a lower court.

Trump and his billionaire advisor, Elon Musk, are rapidly reshaping the federal government. They have dismantled some agencies, fired thousands of workers, dismissed or reassigned hundreds of officials and removed the heads of independent agencies, among other actions.

(Reporting by Jack Queen, Additional reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Leslie Adler, Sonali Paul and Sandra Maler)