Around 9 a.m., the two Justice Department officials arrived at the library’s James Madison Memorial Building and sought access to the U.S. Copyright Office, which is housed there. They brought a letter from the White House declaring that Mr. Blanche was the acting librarian and that he had selected the two men for top roles at the agency.
They were Paul Perkins, an associate deputy attorney general who the letter said would serve as the acting register of copyrights and the director of the Copyright Office, and Brian Nieves, a deputy chief of staff and senior policy counsel who had been designated as the acting deputy librarian.
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, one of the people said.
Mr. Perkins and Mr. Nieves then left the building willingly, accompanied to the door by Ms. Williams. The library’s staff is recognizing Robert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian who was Dr. Hayden’s No. 2, as the acting librarian until it gets direction from Congress, one of the people familiar with the situation said.
Mr. Morelle led five other House Democrats in calling for an investigation into whether the library had given the Department of Government Efficiency or other executive branch agencies unauthorized access to congressional or library data.
The Library of Congress houses the Congressional Research Service, which provides nonpartisan information to assist in the drafting of legislation, and the Copyright Office. It also functions as the nation’s library, holding more than 25 million cataloged books. It is primarily a research facility limited to people 16 years or older, but it also has a children’s reading room.
Add new comment