Two Trump officials tasked with undertaking work at the Library of Congress were blocked by staffers of that branch on Monday after President Donald Trump fired the head librarian on Friday. A source further told The New York Times that staffers were refusing to recognize Trump-appointed Todd Blanche as acting librarian of Congress.
President Trump fired Carla Hayden as head over wokeness and installed his former personal attorney and Assistant AG Blanche to head up the Library of Congress. Blanche sent two Justice Department Officials over to the Library of Congress on Monday with a letter letting administrators know that Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves would be heading up the US Copyright Office.
Library of Congress staffers refused to let the men in and called US Capitol Police. The library's General Counsel Meg Williams asked them to leave and told them they would be denied access to the Copyright Office. Staff, the Times said, "is recognizing Robert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian who was Dr. Hayden’s No. 2, as the acting librarian until it gets direction from Congress."
Newlen had sent an email to staff on Monday stating that though the White House had named a new acting librarian to replace Hayden, it was all still a bit up in the air. That email read: "Currently, Congress is engaged with the White House, and we have not yet received direction from Congress about how to move forward. We will share additional information as we receive it." But his sign off read "acting librarian of Congress."
