The Dellinger Firing and the Long Gap at the Top of the Hatch Act Enforcer

The office that enforces the Hatch Act entered the 2026 midterm season with a leader less than three months into his Senate-confirmed term, the result of a chain that began with the Dellinger firing in February 2025. As of Oct. 28, 2026, complaints against several cabinet secretaries were pending before that office, now run by Special Counsel Charles Baldis. Here is what happened to Hampton Dellinger, who filled the gap, and why critics and the administration read the episode differently.

Where it stands: The Senate confirmed Baldis on Aug. 7, 2026, in a 51-47 party-line vote, Government Executive reported. He had already been running the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) day to day since the spring of 2025.

The New York Times, in its Oct. 28 report on cabinet campaigning, wrote that enforcement “noticeably slowed” while OSC lacked a confirmed head; that is the paper’s assessment, and OSC declined to comment to the Times. The White House says the current complaints against its officials are politically motivated and that their conduct is lawful, the Times reported.

Who is Hampton Dellinger and why was he fired?

Dellinger is a lawyer whom President Joe Biden nominated to run OSC, the independent agency that protects federal whistleblowers and polices partisan activity under the Hatch Act. The Senate confirmed him in 2024 to a five-year term. According to Government Executive, he received a termination notice from the White House on Feb. 7, less than three weeks into Mr. Trump’s second term, “without a justification for the firing.”

No public reason accompanied that notice. The administration fought his challenge, appealing the orders that kept him in place. Dellinger’s case rested on the statute that created his job: he argued that a special counsel can be removed only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office,” the standard written into federal law to protect the post’s independence.

What happened in the Dellinger firing lawsuit?

For several weeks, Dellinger was back on the job by court order. A federal district judge blocked the removal on March 1, and NBC News reported that a lower court had found the termination “unlawful.” Mr. Trump had already named Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins as OSC’s acting leader, but the judge reinstated Dellinger while she weighed the case.

The administration also asked the Supreme Court to step in early. According to NBC News, the justices “declined to immediately act because lower court proceedings were moving quickly,” which left Dellinger in office for the moment. During that window, Government Executive noted, he won a temporary order returning thousands of fired probationary Agriculture Department workers to their jobs.

The turn came on March 5, when the federal appeals court in Washington allowed his removal to take effect while it considered the government’s appeal. The next day, Dellinger said he would drop the suit. “I think my odds of ultimately prevailing before the Supreme Court are long,” he said in a statement. He warned that the harm from a special counsel lacking independence “could be immediate, grievous, and, I fear, uncorrectable,” and predicted his job would go to “someone totally beholden to the President.”

Because he withdrew, no court ever issued a final ruling on whether the removal was lawful. The lower-court finding stands only as a temporary-stage view.

Who ran the Office of Special Counsel after Dellinger?

A string of acting arrangements followed. OSC’s own fiscal 2025 report to Congress lists the dates.

Greer was also the U.S. Trade Representative, and for a period acting director of the Office of Government Ethics. Four House Democrats objected in an April 2025 letter, writing, “We urge you to immediately relinquish your roles as Acting Special Counsel, Acting Director, and any other positions,” according to Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s office. Baldis, a former Senate staffer and OSC’s chief counsel, handled the agency’s work as Greer’s designee.

Why did Paul Ingrassia’s nomination fail?

Mr. Trump announced in May 2025 that he had picked Paul Ingrassia, described by the Associated Press as a former right-wing podcast host, to lead OSC. His nomination collapsed in October after Politico reported on group-chat messages attributed to him, including one in which, per the AP, he described himself as having “a Nazi streak” at times. His lawyer told Politico the messages might have been manipulated or lacked context.

Ingrassia withdrew on Oct. 21, 2025, posting that he did not “have enough Republican votes at this time,” the AP reported via NPR. The White House’s comment was brief: “He is no longer the nominee.” Baldis was later nominated and, in August 2026, confirmed.

Does the Dellinger firing affect Hatch Act enforcement in 2026?

The two sides of that argument rest on different facts. Critics point to the record on senior officials: Government Executive reported in September 2026 that OSC did not appear to have issued findings on any senior appointee’s conduct, and the Times tied the slowdown to the leadership gap. The administration’s answer is that the underlying complaints lack merit, and OSC has not described its handling of any open case.

The agency did not stop working in the interval. It kept issuing advisory opinions and warning letters and pursuing rank-and-file cases, which our explainer on how OSC enforces the Hatch Act describes. Its most consequential decision of the period, declining to discipline anyone over 2025 shutdown messaging, is covered in our look at OSC’s shutdown report. A comparison of the two Trump terms is in first term vs. second term.

One structural point does not depend on who leads OSC. For cabinet secretaries and other Senate-confirmed officials, the special counsel can only send findings to the president, who decides on discipline. Baldis inherited a post with that limit, having run the agency as a designee since April 2025 before his Aug. 7, 2026 confirmation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was Hampton Dellinger fired?

The White House termination notice he received in February 2025 gave no justification, Government Executive reported. The administration appealed the court orders that reinstated him.

Did a court rule the Dellinger firing illegal?

A district court found the termination unlawful at an early stage and reinstated him, but the D.C. Circuit then allowed the removal while it heard the appeal. Dellinger dropped the case in March 2025, so there was never a final ruling.

Who leads the Office of Special Counsel now?

Charles Baldis, confirmed by the Senate 51-47 in August 2026. He had led the agency as the designee of Acting Special Counsel Jamieson Greer since April 2025.

Did Jack Smith work for the agency Dellinger ran?

No. OSC is a permanent independent agency that enforces the Hatch Act and protects whistleblowers. Jack Smith was a Justice Department special counsel appointed for specific criminal investigations.

Sources

• Official who safeguards whistleblowers drops lawsuit protesting his firing by Trump — Government Executive, March 6, 2025
• Top government watchdog drops lawsuit challenging his termination by Trump — NBC News, March 6, 2025
• Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2025 — U.S. Office of Special Counsel, May 1, 2026
• Pressley, Sánchez, Connolly, Beyer Demand Trump Trade Official Resign From Holding Multiple Positions — Office of Rep. Ayanna Pressley, April 9, 2025
• Former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith faces investigation by Office of Special Counsel — Associated Press (via Anchorage Daily News), August 3, 2025
• Trump pick to lead watchdog agency withdraws after offensive text messages revealed — Associated Press (via NPR), October 21, 2025
• Key oversight and federal workforce nominees confirmed by Senate — Government Executive, August 7, 2026
• Hatch Act complaints against Trump officials continue to pile up as investigations go on for nearly a year — Government Executive, September 14, 2026
• Cabinet Officials on the Campaign Trail? Ethics Experts Say Some Are Breaking the Law. — The New York Times, October 28, 2026

This article is news reporting and analysis based on the public sources listed above, as they stood on the dates shown. Where officials, lawmakers or analysts disagree, including on whether an action is lawful, their positions are attributed to them; Donald Trump Class Action is not a court and nothing here is legal advice. Facts in a developing story can change.