Excerpt: “This case comes before the court on the government’s appeal of a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) entered by the district court on February 12, 2025, and the government’s request that we stay the TRO pending resolution of the appeal. The TRO mandates that Hampton Dellinger ‘continue to serve as the Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel,’ even though the President, acting through the Presidential Personnel Office, sought to remove Dellinger from that position on February 7, 2025. Order Granting TRO, Dellinger v. Bessent, 25-cv-385 (ABJ), at 26 (D.D.C. Feb. 12, 2025), ECF No. 14. The TRO is in place for only fourteen days, until February 26, 2025, when the district court will hold a hearing on Dellinger’s motion for a preliminary injunction. If granted, a preliminary injunction would extend relief through the pendency of the case, i.e., until the case is resolved on the merits. … Because it would be inconsistent with governing legal standards and ill-advised to hold that a TRO is appealable based solely on unsubstantiated claims of ‘extraordinary harm’ for fourteen days, we decline to treat the TRO as an appealable
injunction. Nor has the government established its entitlement to the extraordinary remedy of mandamus. We therefore dismiss the appeal, dismiss the stay motion as moot, and deny the petition for a writ of mandamus.”
order
(27 pages)
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