A judge appointed by former President Barack Obama has ruled that President Donald Trump can fire a special counsel while an appeals court considers the case.

Hampton Dellinger, who was Trump’s special counsel, sued to overturn the firing in federal court. The legal battle over Dellinger’s fate is central to Trump’s strategy of eliminating government employees he deems unnecessary.

Former President Joe Biden made Dellinger a special counsel whose job it was to handle cases involving federal government whistleblowers. The purpose of the post was to enable federal workers to report scams and wrongdoing without fear of repercussions.

A one-sentence email fired Dellinger when Trump got back to the White House in January. The case against Dellinger has been going on in federal court ever since.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who was appointed by Obama, had temporarily put Dellinger back on the job while he worked on his case.

The three-person Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals overturned Berman Jackson unanimously on March 5. The ruling meant that Trump could fire Dellinger while the appeals court looked into the legal issues in the case.