WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has fired the federal government’s top ethics official as well as the leader of the agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers — the latest moves by the Republican to push out officials in his quest to overhaul the government.

Hampton Dellinger sued Monday, claiming he was illegally removed as the head of the Office of Special Counsel, which is responsible for protecting the federal workforce from illegal personnel actions, like retaliation for whistleblowing.

Also Monday, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics posted on its website that Trump had removed its director, David Huitema.

Dellinger and Huitema were confirmed by the Senate last year to serve five-year terms. Their removal comes as Trump is testing the limits of well-established civil service protections by moving to dismantle federal agencies and push out staffers.

Huitema said he was notified in an email of his removal over the weekend with no explanation. In an interview, he said he was “extremely disappointed” but committed to the mission of the office and its staff “who represent the best of public service.”

Dellinger was fired in a Friday evening email from the White House personnel director. Dellinger noted in his lawsuit, filed in Washington federal court, that special counsels can be removed by the president “only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

He’s seeking a court order finding that his termination was illegal and reinstating him as the special counsel.

The office investigates whistleblower claims of reprisal, can pursue disciplinary action against employees who punish whistleblowers and provides a way for employees to disclose government wrongdoing.

Stephen Kohn, chair of the board of National Whistleblower Center, called Dellinger’s firing “irresponsible and dangerous.”

“This action undermines a critical government program that has saved taxpayers billions of dollars and is designed to encourage reporting of waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars,” Kohn said in a statement. “Additionally, the Office of Special Counsel maintains confidential lists of hundreds or thousands of federal employees who have blown the whistle on serious fraud, waste and abuse. All of whom are now in immediate danger of being exposed.”

The independent agency is separate from the Justice Department special counsels, who are appointed by the attorney general for specific investigations.

NIH funding fight: Attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration for slashing funding for medical and public health research at universities nationwide.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston challenges the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health over efforts to reduce funding that goes to so-called indirect costs — including lab, faculty, infrastructure and utility costs.

The states argue that research into treating and curing human disease “will grind to a halt” and people would lose access to “modern gene editing, vaccines such as flu vaccines, and cures for diseases like cancer, infectious diseases and addiction.”

Last week, the NIH announced it was cutting payments toward overhead costs for research institutions that receive its grants, a policy that could leave universities with major budget gaps. Currently, some universities receive 50% or more of the amount of a grant to put toward support staff and other needs, but that would be capped at 15%. States want the court to declare that rate change unlawful.

Iran anniversary: Tens of thousands of Iranians marked the anniversary of the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the first such rally since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and restarted his “maximum pressure” campaign targeting Tehran.

The annual commemoration of the end of the rule of the American-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the creation of Iran’s Shiite theocracy comes this year as deep uncertainty lingers across the country.

Iran faces crushing sanctions wrecking its economy and the threat of more coming from Trump, even as the U.S. president suggests that he wants to reach a deal with Tehran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.

On Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized proposed talks with the United States. Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who long has struck a conciliatory tone toward the West, similarly took a harder line. He declared Iran to be in a “full-fledged economy war.”

Congo soldiers’ trial: The court case against 84 Congolese soldiers accused of murder, rape and other crimes against civilians in the country’s conflict-battered east opened Monday.

The soldiers are accused of having broken into civilian homes in several villages in the eastern province of South Kivu over the weekend. They allegedly raped several women and killed at least 12 people, said Pascal Mupenda, one of the lawyers representing the civilian victims.

The accused soldiers were brought before a military court Monday in Bukavu, the provincial capital of South Kivu. The civil party requested the death penalty.

The trial comes as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have been making gains in South Kivu in recent weeks after having captured the key city of Goma in the neighboring North Kivu province. About 3,000 people have been killed and nearly as many injured since late January.

UK immigration raids: The British government touted its success Monday in raiding businesses that employ unauthorized workers and deporting thousands of migrants with no right to stay in the U.K., as it moved to strengthen law-enforcement powers against people-smuggling gangs.

What’s billed as a “blitz on illegal working” is part of a pledge by the center-left Labour government to reduce immigration — a priority for many voters — and stop the growing popularity of the hard-right party Reform U.K. Britain has deported almost 19,000 since Labour was elected in July, the government said.

Land law disputed: South Africa’s second biggest political party, the Democratic Alliance, part of South Africa’s government coalition, launched a legal challenge Monday against a new land expropriation law criticized by U.S. President Donald Trump as a rights violation against a white minority and prompted him to cut all funding to the country.

The South African government can take land from private parties if it’s in the public interest and allows for expropriation without compensation, but only if negotiations for a reasonable settlement have failed, the government says.