Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—White House asks SCOTUS to stop injunction that would keep Register of Copyrights in place, (Oct 28, 2025)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

The Solicitor General argues that the D.C. Circuit’s decision was “another case of improper judicial interference with the President’s power to remove executive officers.”

On May 9, 2025, the Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, released a prepublication version of a report analyzing the use of copyrighted materials to train generative AI models. When the report was released, the President allegedly disagreed with its recommendations. The next day—a Saturday—the Register was notified by email that she had been terminated from her position “effective immediately.” The President then invoked the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) to purportedly appoint the Deputy Attorney General as Acting Librarian of Congress. The Deputy Attorney General then appointed a Justice Department official as Acting Register.

Lawsuit and injunction. Subsequently, Perlmutter sued the President and other officials, arguing her termination was unlawful. She contended that only the Librarian of Congress—not the President—has the authority to fire her. She further argued that the Deputy Attorney General was unlawfully appointed and thus lacked the authority to effectuate her termination. The district court denied her requests for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. It then denied her appeal seeking a stay of its order, after which she filed a motion for an injunction pending appeal with the D.C. Circuit. A panel, with one judge dissenting, granted the motion.

Application to stay. Now the White House is taking the fight to the Supreme Court with an application to stay the interlocutory injunction, arguing that in issuing it, the D.C. Circuit has provided “another case of improper judicial interference with the President’s power to remove executive officers—here, the Register of Copyrights.” The Solicitor General argues that the appeals court has “had no difficulty” in the past “recognizing that ‘the Library [of Congress] is undoubtedly ‘a component of the Executive Branch.’’”

“As in past cases where lower courts have impaired the President’s constitutional authority to oversee executive agencies,” the application states, “this Court should grant a stay: the case is certworthy, the President had authority to direct respondent’s removal, the D.C. Circuit lacked equitable authority to reinstate her, and the balance of equities favors the government.”

The Chief Justice has requested a response to the application, due by 4 p.m. EST on November 10, 2025.

The docket is No. 25A478.

News: LitigationNewsTrends WhiteHouseNews AgencyNews PublicEmployees Discharge Retaliation