The top Democrat on the congressional committee that oversees the Library of Congress, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), is calling for an investigation into the White House’s recent actions involving the library and the U.S. Copyright Office.
In a letter sent to the Library of Congress Inspector General, a group of Democrats led by Morelle asked Kimberly Benoit to look into whether the White House had, yet again, infringed on the legislative branch with its recent firing of the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden and appointment of an acting director. They also questioned whether the executive branch had improperly orchestrated the transfer of congressional files. An excerpt of the letter:
The abrupt firing of Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden raises serious concerns that the executive branch is improperly targeting the Library and its employees with adverse employment actions and inappropriate requests for information including, but not limited to, confidential communications between congressional offices and the Library’s various service units.
The Library is part of the legislative branch—an independent and coequal branch of government. The executive branch has no authority to demand or receive confidential legislative branch data, and the Library has no legal basis to supply such information without authorization from Congress.
The Trump administration’s recent actions involving the Library of Congress, a legislative branch agency, and the U.S. Copyright Office, a government agency within the Library of Congress, has set off alarms. On Thursday, Trump fired Hayden, the first woman and the first Black person to serve as the Librarian of Congress. The Justice Department announced on Monday that deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, who previously represented Trump in court, would replace Hayden. On Saturday, the White House fired the director of the copyright office, Shira Perlmutter. She was fired one day after her agency put out a report that raised concerns about feeding copyrighted material into AI training software.
The separation-of-powers concerns tied to Trump’s firing of one person and appointing of another in an interim capacity to a legislative branch agency remain thorny, alarming and unclear. Even Republican leadership in Congress made a rare acknowledgment that something improper may have taken place. Per Politico:
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a brief interview that congressional leaders “want to make sure we’re following precedent and procedure” in naming a replacement for Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress whom Trump dismissed Thursday.
There’s More
To add to the confusion and disconcert about whether we have another separation-of-powers overreach on our hands, it appears that two men who claimed to be new officials appointed by — or at least given new authorities by — the Trump administration tried to enter the U.S. Copyright Office on Monday, but were not able to gain access to the building and left. Wired broke the story. A spokesperson for the Capitol Police said that officers did not deny anyone entry to the building.
Two key excerpts from their reporting:
A source familiar with the matter tells WIRED that the two men who tried to enter the Copyright Office showed security at the building a document stating that they had been appointed by the White House to new roles within the office. The source identified the men as Brian Nieves, who claimed he was the new deputy librarian, and Paul Perkins, who said he was the new acting director of the Copyright Office, as well as acting register. It is unclear whether the men accurately identified themselves.
The document the two men cited also stated that deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, who previously served as a personal defense lawyer for Trump, was now the acting Librarian of Congress. The Department of Justice announced Monday that Blanche would be replacing Hayden, who had been in the job for nearly a decade.
House Republicans Release Legislative Text On Medicaid Cuts
It appears that some of the most unpopular (among House Republicans) potential cuts to Medicaid — per-capita limits on Medicaid spending and sweeping cuts to the federal government’s spending on the Medicaid expansion population under Obamacare — will not be considered as part of Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill. But Republicans are still pushing to make sweeping cuts to the social safety net program in other ways, primarily making it more difficult to qualify for coverage through things like work requirements, citizenship checks, more intense screenings and taxes on providers, and more.
One key element of the text that falls in line with the Trump administration’s broader attack on blue states and sanctuary cities: Republicans propose cutting a chunk of federal funding for Medicaid in states that allow undocumented residents to use Medicaid services.
The legislative text could still change during tomorrow’s committee markup meetings. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s meeting begins at 2:00 p.m. ET.
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Seriously? The Librarian of Congress? How the f$ck can that fat f$ck fire the Librarian of Congress?
And WTF is the problem with the Copyright office? This is just random destruction for the sake of it.
The Russel Vought shit-show continues.
“Progress is not measured by those with too much getting more but by those with too little getting enough”, FDR.
A couple of points about the Repug bill to take away healthcare coverage from 10,000,000 Americans so as to give tax breaks to those making more than $10,000,000 a year.
Point 1, the bill goes into effect after the next presidential election.
If the bill is passed, the requirements would take effect Jan. 1, 2029.
So just after the 2028 election cycle, 10,000,000 people will be kicked off Medicaid.
Point 2 it takes from those with too little to give to those with too much.
The proposal is part of an effort by House Republicans to find $880 billion in savings over the next decade to help pay for President Trump’s tax bill, which will extend his 2017 tax cuts.
So in order to extend tax cuts which are only significant to those making over $10,000,000 a year, the GOP is going to take away health care from 10,000,000 Americans.
Point 3 this is not about work requirements but about taking from those with too little to give to those with too much.
“[W]ork requirements are the worst sort of red tape — blocking health coverage for working people, people with serious health conditions and people with disabilities,” said Laura Harker, a senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Public Policies.
That is what Republicans are doing has nothing to do with work requirements but everything to do with taking from those who do not have enough to give to those who already have too much.
Here’s a clue:
“…the first woman and the first Black person to serve as the Librarian of Congress.”
In light of everything else that is happening, there is this, Trump is breaking all the rules in regard to refugee status so as to give White South Africans immediate access to the USA at taxpayer expense. My only comment is if I were a terrorist who wanted to get into America, under Trump all you have to be is White.
Refugee status for white South Africans: First group lands in US
Donald Trump says they are victims of “racial discrimination”, which is strongly denied by South Africa.