The U.S. Supreme Court, for now, is stopping President Donald Trump from being able to fire Hampton Dellinger. 

Fox News reports that the justices issued a decision on the matter on Friday.

What this means is that Trump will not be able to fire Dellinger until at least Feb. 26, 2025.

But, there is also the chance that Dellinger will be allowed to remain past this date, depending on how things play out in the courts.

Here's what is going on:

Dellinger is the head of the Special Counsel Office, which investigates claims made by whistleblowers. He was appointed to this position by former President Joe Biden.

Trump and his administration have been trying to fire Dellinger ever since Feb. 7, 2025 Dellinger responded with a lawsuit, arguing, according to Fox, that, "by law, he can only be dismissed from his position for job performance problems, which were not cited in an email dismissing him from his post."

Dellinger actually got lower courts to agree with this argument, first at the district court level and then at the appellate court level. The court have essentially ordered Trump to reinstate Dellinger while the legal battle over his termination plays out.

Trump responded by filing an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court. The appeal essentially asks the justices to reverse the lower court rulings and to allow Trump to fire Dellinger.

The justices have just now responded to this appeal.

Denied

The Supreme Court justices chose not to grant Trump's request in their decision on Friday.

Fox reports, "Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson voted to outright deny the administration’s request to OK the firing."

But, the outlet adds:

Conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito dissented, saying the lower court overstepped, and they cast doubt on whether courts have the authority to restore to office someone the president has fired. While acknowledging that some officials appointed by the president have contested their removal, Gorsuch wrote in his opinion that "those officials have generally sought remedies like backpay, not injunctive relief like reinstatement."

The bottom line, though, is that a majority of the court decided against Dellinger's removal, which means that, for now, he will remain in his position - despite the fact that the Trump administration does not want him there.

It remains to be seen how this will all play out. Next, a district court is going to hold a hearing to determine whether or not to extend that Feb. 26 pause.