Ousted US copyright chief argues Trump did not have power to remove her; The Register, July 4, 2025

Lindsay Clark, The Register; Ousted US copyright chief argues Trump did not have power to remove her

"The White House said the power to remove is aligned with the power to appoint. If there is no Librarian of Congress and the president cannot designate an acting librarian, the president's removal authority extends to inferior officers like the register of copyrights, it argued.

Perlmutter was expunged from office a few days after Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was also shown the door. Hayden was later replaced by deputy attorney general Todd Blanche and Perlmutter by deputy attorney general Paul Perkins.

In the latest filing this week, Perlmutter's legal team said the administration's claim that it had the power to remove her from an office appointed by the Library of Congress employed a "novel constitutional theory" and "sweeping assertions of power."

The Copyright Office is housed in the Library of Congress, and the librarian oversees the Copyright Office head directly, Perlmutter said. Her filing argued that "neither the law nor common sense requires" that the court should "should stand idly by and do nothing while [the Trump administration] wields unprecedented, and unlawful, authority.""