Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who represented Donald Trump during his 2024 criminal trial, has been appointed acting librarian of Congress, the Justice Department said Monday. Blanche replaces longtime librarian Carla Hayden, whom the White House fired last week amid criticism from conservatives that she was advancing a “woke” agenda. Also Monday, two other Trump appointments to the library attempted unsuccessfully to enter the Copyright Office, according to a source with knowledge of the incident. Brian Nieves, a deputy chief of staff and senior counsel in Blanche’s office, was named acting assistant librarian, Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin confirmed. And Paul Perkins, an associate deputy attorney general and veteran Justice Department attorney, is now the acting register of copyrights and director of the Copyright Office, replacing Shira Perlmutter, whom the Trump administration pushed out last weekend. Nieves and Perkins were in the hallway outside the copyright office, which is part of the Library of Congress, but could not get in without access to badges, according to the source. After a brief discussion with library officials and U.S. Capitol Police, whom the library had contacted, the appointees left voluntarily. The source was not authorized to comment publicly, and asked not to be identified. Capitol Police said that no one was barred from, or escorted out of the building, and otherwise referred questions back to the Library of Congress. The Associated Press obtained an internal memo from Robert Randolph Newlen, who had been serving as acting librarian, saying that Congress was “engaged” with the White House about Blanche’s appointment and that the library had not yet “received direction from Congress about how to move forward.” The implications of Trump’s installing a close ally as librarian of Congress could be far-reaching. For instance, the librarian could see requests made by lawmakers to the Congressional Research Service, which are usually seen only by the requesting office and the CRS itself, according to a congressional aide who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The nonpartisan agency is largely known as the think tank of Capitol Hill and provides analyses meant to help lawmakers in the legislative process. But Democrats are already concerned about what kind of information Trump-appointed officials could access in a process that is typically confidential between CRS and lawmakers. Senior House Democrats on Monday also raised the prospect that data held by the Library of Congress, which holds a vast archive of books and historical documents, could have been improperly transferred to the executive branch, including officials at Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Unauthorized information sharing “could compromise legislative branch independence and the ability of Members of Congress to carry out their constitutional duties,” according to the letter, which was signed by lawmakers including New York Rep. Joe Morelle and Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrats on the House Administration and Appropriations committees, respectively. They are asking for an inspector general investigation. Since returning to office in January, Trump has purged officials he regards as opposed to him and to his Republican agenda. Hayden, nominated by President Barack Obama in 2015 and confirmed on a 74-18 Senate vote the following year, named Perlmutter as head of the Copyright Office in 2020. Shortly before her firing, Perlmutter’s office released a highly anticipated […]