Fired copyright chief loses first round in lawsuit over Trump powers
A judge denied a request for reinstatement Wednesday from the ousted head of the national copyright office, rejecting for now her claims that President Donald Trump had no right to fire her.
Shira Perlmutter was fired as register of copyrights earlier this month, an office housed inside the Library of Congress. In a suit filed in Washington’s federal court last week, she alleged that Trump and his subordinates overstepped in both naming a new Librarian of Congress — the only official, she claims, that can hire and fire a copyright chief.
Perlmutter asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order keeping Trump’s appointees out of the Library of Congress and keeping her on the job, but U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly denied the motion from the bench in a hearing Wednesday.
Perlmutter’s lawsuit names as lead plaintiff Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom Trump attempted to appoint as acting Librarian of Congress, alongside Trump and several other administration officials. Justice Department lawyers representing Blanche & Co. asserted in a court filing this week that the Library of Congress is “part of the Executive Branch and is subject to presidential control.”
“The Library of Congress is not an autonomous organization free from political supervision,” the lawyers wrote.
The White House argues that Trump has the authority to name an acting librarian and register of copyrights who can serve temporarily under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act — much as the president can name acting leaders for any other federal agency with a presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed chief.
Key lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including some top Republicans, are questioning that assertion, and it has created a standoff at the Library of Congress over the attempted takeover.
Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, said in a statement that the arguments in the recent administration court filing amount to “unlawful and unconstitutional efforts to wrest control of the Library and the Copyright Office from Congress and the American people.”
“The law is clear,” Morelle said. “The Library of Congress is a legislative branch agency, and the President has no authority to appoint an Acting Librarian or meddle in the Library's personnel decisions.”
In addition to attempting to install Blanche as acting librarian, Trump also attempted to appoint Brian Nieves as acting assistant librarian and Paul Perkins as acting register of copyrights, replacing Perlmutter as director of the Copyright Office.
But Robert Randolph Newlen, who assumed the acting librarian role immediately after Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden’s removal, appears to remain in control of the library, and Blanche has not been seen at the library or sent communications to employees since the attempted takeover earlier this month.
While Kelly did not immediately grant Perlmutter’s request, her lawsuit will continue. Kelly indicated he will hear arguments in the coming weeks on whether to grant a preliminary injunction blocking Trump and Blanche while the litigation plays out.
In the meantime, the leadership of the library and copyright office will remain in limbo.
"If Mr. Blanche assumes the role of Acting Librarian of Congress, the Executive Branch will gain access to reams of confidential information that belongs to Congress and that Congress has zealously guarded from disclosure, as well as privately owned copyright deposits,” Perlmutter’s lawyer wrote in a Tuesday filing.
Republican chairs of the House and Senate panels with oversight responsibility of the library declined a request for comment.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, called once again for Congress to take bipartisan action to codify full congressional control of the library, condemning the “unprecedented encroachment by the White House.”