President Trump on Monday appointed a second Justice Department official and his former personal attorney to serve as librarians for Congress, launching reforms at the legislative department's major research libraries, prompting an immediate uprising among staff.
Trump nominated Associate Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was the leading defense attorney in a criminal trial in Manhattan last year, and took over Congressional librarian Carla Hayden, who fired suddenly the president last week.
However, library of Congress staff were pushed back, and the council argued that, according to two people familiar with the situation, they must refuse to provide two other Justice Department officials whom Blanche has chosen to be a senior position with access to the headquarters of Capitol Hill's agency.
The lockout led to a brief conflict across from the Capitol, ending Congressional authority and becoming the latest flashpoint in the battle that marks the start of the White House. Those who described it were not authorized to comment and therefore were conditioned on anonymity.
At about 9am, two Justice Department officials arrived at the library's James Madison Memorial, seeking access to the U.S. Copyright Office, which is located there. They brought a letter from the White House declaring that Mr. Blanche was the librarian and that he chose two men for the top role in the agency.
They were Paul Perkins, the assistant deputy attorney general who said the letter would serve as the director of copyright as a proxy register of copyright, and Brian Neeves, the deputy chief of staff and senior policy counsel, designated as assistant librarian. Trump also fired former Copyright Bureau director Silla Permater over the weekend, one of the people said.
Library staff balked and called the Capitol Police and its advisor, Meg Williams. Meg Williams told two officials he was not granted access to the Copyright Office and asked him to leave.
Mr. Perkins and Mr. Neeves then happily left the building, with Williams accompanying him at the door. Library staff recognizes Robert Newlen, the principal vice librarian of Dr. Hayden's second issue, as a proxy librarian until he gets direction from Congress, one of those familiar with the situation said.
In a brief email to staff Monday, Newren pointed out that the White House had named the new acting librarian, suggesting that the issue has not yet been resolved.
“Currently, Congress is working with the White House and has not yet received instructions from Congress on how to move forward. We will share additional information when we receive it,” he wrote and signed the memo as “a representative librarian for Congress.”
Congressional librarians are presidentially appointed posts and are subject to confirmation by the Senate.
New York president Joseph D. Morell, a top Democrat on the House Management Committee and a member of the Library's Joint Committee, said the move to fire Dr. Hayden and Permatter would amount to gaining power by the administrative department. He criticized Republicans for not opposing it.
“This action once again tramples on the legislative 1 powers of Congress and throws the trillion dollar industry into chaos,” Morell said in a statement. “When will my Republican colleagues decide that it's sufficient?”
Morell asked five other House Democrats to investigate whether the library gave the government's Department of Efficiency or other administrative bodies unauthorized access to Congressional or library data.
After Trump ended Dr. Hayden, who has been working since 2016, the White House accused him of “putting inappropriate books in a children's library.”
The Library of Congress has Congress research services. Congress provides nonpartisan information to help draft the law and houses the Copyright Bureau. It also serves as a national library that holds over 25 million cataloged books. This is a research facility that is primarily limited to people over the age of 16, but also has a children's reading room.
Tim Bork and Jennifer Schusler Reports of contributions.
