Senior Justice Department officials tapped by Trump to run Library of Congress are denied access
Two senior Justice Department officials, Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves, appointed by President Donald Trump to run the Library of Congress, were denied access to their new positions. Their appointment came after the White House fired Carla Hayden, the first woman and Black person to serve as librarian of Congress, who had a year and a half left in her term. The roles Perkins and Nieves were to assume include acting register of copyrights and acting deputy librarian of Congress, respectively. Despite arriving with documentation of their appointments, they were not permitted entry, and the Library of Congress has received no clear guidance from Congress on how to proceed. Representative Joe Morelle criticized the firings as an attack on Congressional authority and called for an investigation into potential breaches of confidential congressional data.
Context:
Two senior Justice Department officials, Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves, appointed by President Donald Trump to run the Library of Congress, were denied access to their new positions. Their appointment came after the White House fired Carla Hayden, the first woman and Black person to serve as librarian of Congress, who had a year and a half left in her term. The roles Perkins and Nieves were to assume include acting register of copyrights and acting deputy librarian of Congress, respectively. Despite arriving with documentation of their appointments, they were not permitted entry, and the Library of Congress has received no clear guidance from Congress on how to proceed. Representative Joe Morelle criticized the firings as an attack on Congressional authority and called for an investigation into potential breaches of confidential congressional data.
Dive Deeper:
Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves were appointed by President Trump to senior positions at the Library of Congress but were denied access to their offices upon arrival. Perkins was set to be the acting register of copyrights and Nieves the acting deputy librarian of Congress.
Their appointments followed the controversial firing of Carla Hayden, who was the first woman and Black individual to serve as librarian of Congress, with a year and a half remaining in her 10-year term.
The Library of Congress, a legislative-branch agency, has not received any instructions from Congress regarding how to handle the situation, leading to confusion about the next steps.
Todd Blanche, who represented Trump in his 2024 criminal trial and was found guilty on 34 felony counts, was named as the acting librarian of Congress, replacing Hayden.
Representative Joe Morelle condemned the recent firings as undermining Congressional authority and independence, calling for an investigation by the Library of Congress Inspector General into possible unauthorized access to sensitive congressional information.