Trump’s Firing of Copyright Chief Sparks Constitutional Clash

President Donald Trump’s unprecedented removal of the US Copyright Office chief is on shaky legal ground, as the position isn’t presidentially appointed, and threatens to compound the administration’s ongoing battles over federal workforce firings.

Democratic lawmakers have led a chorus of admonitions against the May 10 removal of Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, which came two days after Trump also fired her boss, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. The removals raise acute separation of powers concerns because Perlmutter’s position falls under the legislative branch and is appointed by the librarian.

The firings are the latest in Trump’s norm-shattering efforts to remake the federal workforce, often rooted in partisanship. But they’re his first termination of legislative-branch officials, having removed commissioners and others at independent agencies including the Federal Trade Commission.

The Copyright Office is unaccustomed to high profile politics, as its technical subject matter and copyright law’s poor fit into partisan ideologies has effectively kept it apolitical. But Democratic senators argued in a Wednesday letter that the firings undermine that historical independence and emphasis on expertise over political fealty at a time where the agency could exert major influence on AI and content industries.

University of Colorado law professor Blake E. Reid questioned Trump’s authority to fire Perlmutter or appoint replacements, saying vacancy law doesn’t apply to the Library, “kind of a hydra of an agency,” with legislative, executive and judicial functions. Trump’s actions implicate the separation of powers, Reid warned, noting that after the firings Trump appointed US Justice Department employees to acting leadership posts at the Library—which oversees the Congressional Research Service.

“If the Department of Justice basically has a perch to review confidential questions members of Congress are submitting, that’s a big deal, that affects how Congress operates,” he said.

Trump appointed deputy attorney general—his former criminal defense attorney—Todd Blanche as acting librarian, associate deputy attorney general Paul Perkins as acting acting register, and Blanche’s deputy chief of staff Brian Nieves as deputy librarian. A Justice Department spokesperson said all are now employees of both the department and the Library of Congress.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A Library of Congress employee, granted anonymity to speak freely, called the executive branch injecting itself into the legislative agency unusual and alarming. The employee noted tens of thousands of reports made for Congress are kept confidential from the executive branch.

Although Trump purported to appoint a replacement, the librarian position has required Senate approval since 1897. Congress in 2018 considered making the register a presidential appointee while keeping the office within the Library of Congress. It also previously considered removing the Copyright Office from the Library and making it an executive agency.

Copyright and AI

The timing of the firings coincided with the Copyright Office’s release of a pivotal and novel legal analysis with major ramifications for multiple industries.

The agency released part three of its ongoing “Copyright and Artificial Intelligence” report just a day before Perlmutter’s firing. The 113-page paper rejected the AI industry’s contention that AI training on copyrighted works is inherently fair use. Trump has strongly advocated for removing barriers to US primacy in AI.

The White House hasn’t linked the firings to the Copyright Office’s position on AI. But former Copyright Register Maria Pallante said it’s clear the Copyright Office rushed out the report once Hayden, a Barack Obama appointee, was fired. Members of Congress, led by Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), directly accused Trump of firing Perlmutter over the report.

Pallante, now CEO of the Association of American Publishers, said firing the register may be illegal, but that might make little practical difference. Asking courts to restore Perlmutter would just mean she would be—validly—fired a second time by Trump’s new librarian, said Pallente.

“The president unambiguously has the right to remove anyone who’s a president-appointed officer subject to senate confirmation,” Pallante said. “Technically, does the White House have the ability to reach into the legislative branch? Probably not. But they just didn’t want to wait for the new Librarian of Congress.”

Pallante said she expected Hayden’s removal and was surprised it didn’t happen sooner. But presidential appointees are usually given the opportunity resign rather than fired, and Congress is often consulted regarding Library matters, she said: “It’s the way they go about it that surprises people.”

UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh called both firings legal. He cited a 2024 D.C. Circuit opinion that held copyright regulations are subject to the Administrative Procedure Act. Volokh said the register “carries out important administrative functions” that place it effectively within the executive branch.

“Despite the title ‘Librarian of Congress,’ the librarian is treated for legal purposes as a leader in the executive branch,” Volokh said. “Those functions cannot be performed by a congressionally appointed official.”

The register of copyrights is “still a high enough officer that the president can basically fire” despite not being presidentially appointed, he added. Legal precedent says terms of office prescribed by Congress, such as the librarian’s 10-year term, don’t—and can’t—bar the president from firing executive officers, even without cause.

Reid argued the D.C. Circuit case hinged on Congress explicitly stating the Copyright Act is subject to the APA, and it rejected a “generalized determination” that the Copyright Office is an executive agency.

“You have to zoom in on why you’re asking the question,” he said, noting in this case it’s to determine if the president has the authority to appoint an acting librarian. The definition of an agency in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act doesn’t incorporate the Library or Copyright Office, he said.

Stanford University professor Anne Joseph O’Connell said a president probably has authority to fire the librarian, and at least could replace her. But she said legality isn’t the only important factor.

“That firing violates long-standing norms and practices as it would with the FBI director, and undermines effective separation of powers and good governance,” she said.