Trump Asks Supreme Court to Let Him Fire Copyright Office Chief

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow the president to fire the head of the US Copyright Office after a lower appeals court found the president likely exceeded his authority in dismissing her.

The Justice Department filing to Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday sought a stay of a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that temporarily restored Shira Perlmutter to her position leading a unit within the Library of Congress.

The application marked the latest instance in which President Donald Trump has looked to the Supreme Court to pause orders siding with federal officials claiming their firings were illegal. It also comes as the justices prepare to hear arguments in December in a case testing a precedent constraining presidential power over independent agencies.

Trump in May ordered Perlmutter’s firing in a move that came two days after he dismissed her superior, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, and designated Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as Hayden’s acting replacement.

But Perlmutter sued, claiming she’s a legislative branch official and that only a Senate-confirmed librarian has statutory authority to hire and fire the register of copyrights.

She also said she was fired in retaliation for advice she provided Congress, a reference to a report that her office issued on copyright issues related to artificial intelligence training.

A split DC Circuit panel in September temporarily reinstated her, finding Perlmutter is a legislative officer and the president likely violated the separation of powers with the firing.

The Justice Department in its application for Supreme Court intervention argued that precedent holds “the Librarian and Register are executive officers” and that the DC Circuit wrongly sided with Perlmutter’s stance.

Perlmutter and the Librarian of Congress “exercise powers that this Court has repeatedly classified as executive,” the DOJ added, “such as the power to issue rules implementing a federal statute, to issue orders in administrative adjudications, and even to conduct foreign relations relating to copyright issues.”

The claims on executive authority echo arguments the administration has repeatedly made this year to defend Trump’s firing of high-ranking officials at agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and the National Labor Relations Board. Justice Department lawyers have also argued that federal courts lack the power to reinstate officials including Perlmutter.

Perlmutter’s repsonse to the application is due Nov. 10.

The case is: Blanche v. Perlmutter, U.S., No. 25A478, application, 10/27/25.