Donald Trump’s Library of Congress fight is really about the separation of powers

AP News ^ | Updated 1:51 PM CDT, May 16, 2025 | SEUNG MIN KIM

[E. Pluribus Unum]

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not really about the books.

President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of top officials at the Library of Congress and equally sudden attempt to appoint a slate of loyalists as replacements has instead morphed into an enormous fight over the separation of powers, as the White House tries to wrest control of what has for centuries been a legislative institution.

It’s a power struggle with potentially vast consequences. The Library of Congress not only stores the world’s largest collection of books but also an office overseeing reams of copyrighted material of untold value.

There is a research institute that has long been protected from outside influence. Its servers house extremely sensitive information regarding claims of workplace violations on Capitol Hill, as well as payments and other financial data for the legislative branch’s more than 30,000 employees. There’s even speculation that the whole affair is tied to an ongoing debate over whether big tech companies can use copyrighted material for artificial intelligence systems.

Because of this, the battle over control of the Library of Congress has prompted Republican leaders on Capitol Hill to deliver rare pushback against a president who has pressed to expand the boundaries of his own power to enact his priorities. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Republicans have been talking with the White House about a potential path to détente.

This all has left the library in a bizarre state of purgatory.

For now, Trump’s choices for interim library leaders — most notably Todd Blanche, a deputy attorney general who had represented the president in his criminal proceedings — have not appeared to challenge the assertion by the library that one of its veteran officials would be the acting head. It would be unheard of for...

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TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: copyright; executivebranch; libraryofcongress; loc; seungminkim; whitehouse

[I-ambush]

AP may claim the issue is about separation of powers, but under the last administration, the Library of Congress functioned as a division of Merrick Garland’s Dept of Justice when it came time to persecute an ex-president. . What needs to be separated is all of the partisan Dems from supposedly nonpartisan government bureaus.

[CFW]

The Act clearly states:

“The President shall appoint the Librarian of Congress, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.”

You can read it yourself at:

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title2/chapter5&edition=prelim

The Library of Congress falls under the Executive branch so I don’t see where the AP gets the idea it’s “about the separation of powers” or that Trump is trying to “wrest control” from the legislative branch.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

too many bureaucrats on the payroll who care nothing about genuine safeguarding of our heritage and history.

[FirstFlaBn]

You’re mixing up LOC and National Archives.

As is so often the case, this WP article is a misdirection play. The person Trump fired was prepping the ground for LOC to ease copyright rules to allow AI to steal intellectual property and somebody clued Trump in.

[pacific_waters]

The president also appoints federal judges, up to and including the SCOTUS.They are NOT part of the executive branch. The Librarian is APPOINTED buy the president but SERVES the congress and is accountable to them through the Joint Committee on the Library.

[Sirius Lee]

Faggot assed Mike Johnson, the lousy cursed POS, will be all over this in 3…2…okay, he’s still hiding under a desk giving a beej to some derpstate associated crony lobbyist, but any year now…,