President Donald Trump has just secured a legal win as a federal judge denied a request to immediately reinstate Shira Perlmutter, the recently dismissed head of the U.S. Copyright Office.
As Slay News reported, Perlmutter was fired by Trump earlier this month as part of the administration’s ongoing purge of government officials who are perceived to be opposed to Trump and his agenda.
Perlmutter, a former Bill Clinton administration official, was appointed to the role by Carla Hayden.
Hayden, a Barack Obama appointee, was fired from her role as the Librarian of Congress the week prior.
The U.S. Copyright Office is overseen by the Library of Congress.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, ruled against the emergency motion on Wednesday.
The federal judge stated that Perlmutter failed to demonstrate that she would suffer irreparable harm without being reinstated, according to the Associated Press.
Perlmutter had filed suit against the Trump administration, arguing that her dismissal was unlawful.
She claimed that only the Librarian of Congress has the authority to remove her from the role, not the president or his appointees.
Perlmutter had been selected for the position in 2020 by Hayden.
The president’s decision to remove Hayden followed mounting concerns over her push for divisive “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) policies within the Library.
In her place, Trump appointed U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to serve as acting Librarian of Congress.
While Perlmutter and her legal team insist the position falls under the legislative branch and is beyond presidential reach, lawyers for the administration argue otherwise.
“The President had the power to remove the Librarian and designate an acting replacement. The Library of Congress is not an autonomous organization free from political supervision,” a legal filing stated.
“It is part of the Executive Branch and is subject to presidential control…”
Despite the clear authority exercised by President Trump, establishment resistance appears to be brewing, even from within Republican ranks.
According to Politico, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-SD) have reportedly questioned the president’s actions in private conversations.
The outlet cited anonymous sources for these claims.
On the Left, opposition is more vocal.
Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) denounced Perlmutter’s removal, tying it to her resistance to corporate interests.
“Donald Trump’s termination of Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis,” Morelle claimed.
“It is surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.”
The legal battle is far from over, however.
While Judge Kelly declined to grant emergency relief, he noted that full arguments in Perlmutter’s case would be heard in the coming weeks.
Trump’s decisive actions, particularly in bureaucratic territory traditionally seen as untouchable, have once again drawn sharp lines between those who support a return to constitutional accountability and those clinging to entrenched Washington power structures.
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