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The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to approve the removal of Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights, from her position at the Library of Congress. The request, made on Monday (October 27), follows a lower court's ruling that Perlmutter's role is part of the legislative branch, meaning she does not report to the White House. President Donald Trump dismissed Perlmutter after she released a report in May suggesting that copyrighted works used to train generative AI models might require licensing, a move with which Trump reportedly disagreed.
The case is part of President Trump's broader effort to expand presidential control over federal agencies by removing critics. However, the Perlmutter case introduces a new challenge due to the lower court's findings that she reports to Congress. In a 2-1 decision, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals determined that only a Senate-confirmed Librarian of Congress can remove her, not the president. Judge Florence Pan, appointed by President Joe Biden, wrote that the executive's interference with a legislative branch official's work violates the separation of powers.
The Trump administration argues that the DC Circuit's decision contradicts established precedent. Solicitor General D. John Sauer stated that treating the Librarian and Register as legislative officers could conflict with the principle that Congress cannot vest the power to execute laws in itself or its officers. The Supreme Court has asked Perlmutter to respond by November 10.