The head of a whistleblower protection agency asked the Supreme Court Tuesday to keep him at his post while litigation over President Trump’s attempt to fire him works its way through the courts.

Hampton Dellinger, who was appointed by President Biden in March 2024 to a five-year term as head of the Office of Special Counsel, sued earlier this month after Mr. Trump moved to fire him in his attempt to cut the federal government.

Mr. Dellinger argues he can only be terminated for cause.

The Trump administration requested over the weekend that the Supreme Court halt a lower court order that reinstated Mr. Dellinger to his post while the lawsuit plays out.

Mr. Dellinger’s attorneys say the high court should stay the course because the merits of the case have not been considered, and instead the president is looking to erase a temporary restraining order.

“There is no merit to the government’s effort to declare a five-alarm fire based on a short lived [temporary restraining order] that preserves the status quo ante,” his filing read.

According to Mr. Trump’s court filing, though, the Justice Department says that lower courts are attempting to interfere with the executive branch’s authority.

“The United States now seeks this Court’s intervention because these judicial rulings irreparably harm the Presidency by curtailing the President’s ability to manage the Executive Branch in the earliest days of his Administration,” read the request, which was signed by acting Solicitor General Sarah M. Harris.

It is the first dispute in what is expected to be many requests from the Trump administration to the Supreme Court over district court judges attempting to block the president’s agenda.

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.