The case had become a flashpoint in the debate over how much power the president should have to replace the leaders of independent agencies as he moves to radically reshape and shrink the federal government.

The fired head of a federal watchdog agency on Thursday said he was ending his legal battle over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to remove him from office after a federal appeals court cleared the way for him to do so.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday allowed President Donald Trump to temporarily remove the head of an independent watchdog agency who was investigating the administration’s mass firing of probationary federal employees.