Morelle’s Statement on Trump Administration’s Continued Assault on the Legislative Branch
"I will never stop fighting to uphold the Constitution and the separation of powers that have governed our country for almost 250 years."
Rochester, New York – Rep. Joe Morelle (NY-25), the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration, issued this statement about the Trump Administration’s outrageous disregard for Article One of the Constitution and the ongoing litigation over Register Perlmutter’s illegal firing:
“The Trump Administration continues its unlawful and unconstitutional efforts to wrest control of the Library and the Copyright Office from Congress and the American people. The law is clear: the Library of Congress is a legislative branch agency, and the President has no authority to appoint an Acting Librarian or meddle in the Library's personnel decisions. I will never stop fighting to uphold the Constitution and the separation of powers that have governed our country for almost 250 years.”
Background:
On May 8, 2025, Dr. Carla Hayden was abruptly fired from her role as the Librarian of Congress. Days before, Ranking Member Morelle proclaimed in his opening statement during the Committee’s Library of Congress oversight hearing that it “doesn’t take much imagination to see the Library of Congress next in the crosshairs.”
On May 10, 2025, Donald Trump illegally tried to fire Shira Perlmutter – a legislative branch employee – the day after the U.S. Copyright Office issued a widely anticipated report opining on the use of copyrighted material to train generative AI models.
On May 12, 2025, Ranking Member Morelle led a request to Library of Congress Inspector General Kimberly Benoit seeking an investigation and continued monitoring of potential improper communications between the Library of Congress—a legislative branch agency—and the executive branch, including the possibility of the unauthorized transfer of congressional or Library data to executive branch agencies and personnel.
On May 16, 2025, Ranking Member Morelle demanded the Department of Government Efficiency cease all efforts to embed executive branch personnel in the legislative branch’s nonpartisan, independent agencies. This effort was joined by House Judiciary Committee Member Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and the late House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Gerry Connolly.
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