The United States Supreme Court on Friday delayed its ruling on the Trump administration's emergency application to approve the termination of the head of a whistleblower protection agency.

The Justice Department filed the emergency appeal on Monday, related to a lower court's order to temporarily reinstall Hampton Dellinger as the leader of the Office of Special Counsel. 

Dellinger sued the administration over his removal, arguing that the justification had to be related to job performance.

The Supreme Court placed the emergency application in "abeyance," until the temporary reinstallment expires next Wednesday. A hearing on the matter in front of the nation's highest court is also scheduled for that day, per NBC News.

Liberal Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have rejected the bid to approve the firing outright, while conservatives justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas said they would have granted it. 

"[The judge] effectively commanded the president and other executive branch officials to recognize and work with someone whom the president sought to remove from office," Gorsuch wrote.

If President Donald Trump is successful in firing Dellinger, then he would place Doug Collins, the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, as acting head of the agency.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.