The leadership of the Library of Congress is in apparent dispute after the White House moved Monday to install Justice Department’s No. 2 official as its new acting chief.
A DOJ official said President Donald Trump appointed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting Libarian of Congress. But the official who now holds that post, Robert Randolph Newlen, disputed a change had been made in an email to library staff Monday morning.
“Congress is engaged with the White House and we have not received direction from Congress about how to move forward,” Newlen wrote in an internal email to Library of Congress employees.
Newlen took over as acting Librarian of Congress Thursday after Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, cutting short her 10-year term.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday that Trump had dismissed Hayden because “she did not fit the needs of the American people.” Leavitt described as “quite concerning” Hayden’s work on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs.
The library’s official biography of Hayden, who is African American, touts her use of a private grant to engage with “underrepresented” communities and “add their perspectives to the Library’s collections.”
Leavitt also claimed Hayden was “putting inappropriate books in the library for children,” a puzzling assertion since the Library of Congress is not a lending library and researchers have to be at least 16.
Trump on Saturday also dismissed top U.S. copyright official Shira Perlmutter, who was appointed by Hayden. The firing came a day after her office released a draft report on use of copyrighted materials in artificial intelligence.
Congressional Democrats have denounced Trump’s move and called for Congress to pass a law eliminating the president’s power to appoint the top librarian.
“We must assert our congressional prerogative by making the position of Librarian of Congress appointed by a Congressional commission — not by presidents that treat federal appointments like reality TV prizes,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Blanche is taking over from Principal Deputy Librarian Robert Newlen, who automatically replaced Hayden on an acting basis last week.