Blanche temporarily replaces longtime librarian Carla Hayden.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has been temporarily appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as acting librarian of Congress.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday confirmed the acting appointment in an emailed statement to NTD, sister media of The Epoch Times.
The president’s acting appointment means that Blanche temporarily replaces longtime librarian Carla Hayden, who Trump fired on the evening of May 8. A permanent replacement for the position will require Senate confirmation.
Blanche was the lead attorney representing Trump in his criminal trial in 2024 in which the former president was found guilty of lying about business records for indirect non-disclosure payments to Stephanie Clifford, an adult film actress who
lost a civil defamation lawsuit against Trump. Following Blanche’s work on the case, Trump nominated his former attorney to serve as deputy attorney general in the DOJ when he was elected to a second term in the White House.
Hayden was
nominated by President Barack Obama on Feb. 24, 2016. Her nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Hayden was fired because she wasn’t serving the interests of American taxpayers through her advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
“There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children,” Leavitt
told reporters during a May 9 press briefing. “She has been removed from her position, and the president is well within his rights to do that.”
While the law outlines a maximum 10-year term for a librarian of Congress, it does not specify a statutory limit for how long an acting librarian can serve.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library and holds millions of books, films, audio recordings, photographs, and manuscripts in its historic collections.
A video, recently recorded with Hayden, was
published on social media after Hayden was fired from her role. The video, posted on May 10, featured Hayden outlining the importance of the library, saying it preserves the nation’s most important documents and artifacts. The library also serves as the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and home of the U.S. Copyright Office.
The library is an agency of the legislative branch, and top Democrats have said Trump does not have the authority to fire its top official.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) previously
said in a May 8 statement in response to Hayden’s termination that the role should be appointed by a Congressional commission and “not by presidents that treat federal appointments like reality TV prizes.” Schumer also said Hayden is a trailblazer and a public servant who brought truth to the Library of Congress.
Blanche’s acting appointment comes after two other Justice Department officials were tapped to serve in acting roles in the Library of Congress. Blanche’s deputy chief of staff, Brian Nieves, was appointed acting deputy librarian of Congress. Associate Deputy Attorney General Paul Perkins has been named acting register of copyrights after Shira Perlmutter was fired from the role on May 10.
Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration, has submitted a letter seeking a review by the Library of Congress’s inspector general into “potential improper access to confidential congressional data” by the Trump Administration and the firing of Hayden.
“The baseless firing of the Librarian of Congress and illegitimate removal of the [Copyright Office] Director is an assault on Congressional authority and independence,” Morelle
wrote on X on May 12.
The LOC Inspector General has yet to publicly respond to Morelle’s request.
Hayden’s firing is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reel in diversity efforts led by unelected officials in the federal government.
Trump on his first day in office
signed an executive order to end DEI programs and policies imposed under the Biden administration. The president in the Jan. 20 directive said that Americans deserve a government committed to serving every individual with equal dignity and respect, and to spending taxpayer resources only on making the country great.
