Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Court declines to temporarily stymie Trump administration’s removal of Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, (May 29, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Library of Congress | Register of Copyrights | U.S. Copyright Office | U.S. Department of Justice
By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
The court denied her motion for a TRO, but ordered the parties to meet and confer should she decide to move for a preliminary injunction.
Almost one week after the Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, who was also the Register of Copyrights, filed suit challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to remove her from her position and seeking a temporary restraining order from the federal district court in D.C., the presiding judge in that case has denied her motion, without issuing a written opinion.
Copyright expert Shira Perlmutter had served as Register of Copyrights/U.S. Copyright Office Director since October 2020, when she was appointed to her role by the Librarian of Congress. As Register, she served as an advisor to Congress and administered the nation’s copyright system.
She argues that, as part of a lawless effort to seize control over Congress’s library, Trump and his administration have attempted to remove her from her post.
In her lawsuit, she alleges that the President fired Dr. Carla D. Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, and then purported to remove the plaintiff from her post as well. The President then, without any authorization from Congress or advice and consent from the Senate, she alleges, purported to appoint the Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, Todd Blanche, as acting Librarian of Congress. Blanche, she alleges, then sent two Justice Department officials to the Library of Congress to attempt to access the U.S. Copyright Office and assume the positions of acting Deputy Librarian of Congress and Register of Copyrights. She argues that those actions do not have any legal effect because the President lacks any authority to remove the Register of Copyrights or appoint an acting Librarian of Congress.
These attempts, she alleges are “blatantly unlawful.” She sought a temporary restraining order from the court, but her request was denied. The court had ordered that, if the plaintiff intends to move for a preliminary injunction, the parties should meet, confer, and submit a joint proposed briefing schedule.
The case is No. 1:25-cv-01659-TJK.
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