(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday allowed President Donald Trump to fire the head of a watchdog agency responsible for protecting whistleblowers. The unsigned order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit pauses a lower court order that reinstated Office of Special Counsel chief Hampton Dellinger.

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration suffered another legal blow in its efforts to freeze federal funding for programs that do not align with the Republican's agenda on Thursday when a second judge blocked it from implementing a sweeping pause on spending on grants, loans and other financial support.

The attempt to take over the District of Columbia is of a piece with the attacks on federal workers and the effort to create a personalist dictatorship.

The district's chief academic officer, Jeff Klein, who began with the district at the start of the school year, will start his new role July 1.

The federal court order follows another win for probationary employees who challenged their terminations before the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Though a previous version of comprehensive judgeships legislation fell victim to a political spat, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are hopeful that they can find a path forward to address crushing caseloads at federal courts.

A federal judge in Washington denied a request by federal worker unions to halt the firing of probationary workers in the U.S. government, saying the court likely lacks the authority to hear the claims.