"While administrative stays are more common in appellate courts, district courts have recognized their applicability in cases seeking emergency relief—including in this District," U.S. District Senior Judge Amy Berman Jackson wrote in a minute order temporarily reinstating Hampton Dellinger as special counsel of the Office of Special Counsel.

The Trump administration will likely ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on the scope of Trump’s authority to dismiss top officials across the federal government.

Attorney General Bondi’s antagonism toward special counsels underscores the decisiveness of her pivot away from the prosecutorial posture of her predecessor — and her intent to upend Special Counsel Jack Smith’s legacy.