Trump's decision to fire the librarian of Congress sparks an intensifying controversy

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Trump appointees tried to get to work at the Library of Congress. Staff members at the library refused — and called the Capitol Police.

Trump’s decision to fire the librarian of Congress sparks an intensifying controversy

— 🦋 iPERSiST iRESiST iM (@mama-gramma-bear.bsky.social) 2025-05-14T13:59:13.351Z

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/librarian-congress-fired-trump-newsletter-rcna206534

But it’s not quite that simple: It wasn’t long before lawyers started asking whether a president can appoint temporary officials to serve in a separate branch of government. What’s more, there are related questions as to whether the appointees could legally work in the executive and legislative branches simultaneously.

If that weren’t quite enough, NBC News reported that things got a little dicey when Trump appointees showed up at what they considered their new offices.

Two Trump administration DOJ officials who claimed to be assigned to the Library of Congress in acting leadership roles were turned away from its offices this morning, three sources familiar told NBC News. [Nieves and Perkins] arrived at 9 a.m. at the U.S. Copyright Office in the Madison Building and presented an email saying they were given the new roles, but the two were not allowed into the offices and left. The two had also presented a letter saying that Todd Blanche, the current deputy attorney general, was being appointed to also be the acting librarian of Congress. The two left after speaking with library staff and security.

In case this isn’t obvious, standoffs like these are not at all common. The New York Times reported that when Nieves and Perkins showed up, staff members at the library “balked and called the U.S. Capitol Police as well as their general counsel, Meg Williams, who told the two officials that they were not allowed access to the Copyright Office and asked them to leave.”

Evidently, at least in this instance, that worked.

The controversy is likely to continue — not just because these dubious Trump appointees might try to return to the offices the White House expects them to hold, but also because Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Library of Congress’ inspector general, Kimberly Benoit, to launch an investigation.

With this in mind, it’s unlikely that we’ve heard the last of this story. Watch this space.