Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump suddenly dismissed the Librarian of the Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday while the White House continues to serve the federal government of people perceived to oppose the president and his program.
Hayden was informed in an email Thursday evening of the Blank Maison presidential office office, according to an email obtained by the Associated Press. Confirmed by the Senate at work in 2016Hayden, the long-standing leader of the Baltimore library system, was the first woman and the first African-American to be a librarian in the congress.
“Carla,” started the email. “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I write to you to inform you that your position as a congress librarian is terminated immediately. Thank you for your service.” A spokesperson for the Congress Library confirmed that the White House told Hayden that she had been dismissed.
Hayden, whose 10 -year mandate was expected to expire next year, was being reaction from a Conservative advocacy group This has accused him and other library leaders of promoting children's books with “radical” content and literary material written by Trump opponents.
“The current #Librarianofcongress Carla Hayden is awakened, anti-Trump, and promotes trans-id children,” said the group, American Accountability Foundation, on his account X earlier Thursday, just a few hours before public dismissal. “It's time to get it out and hire a new guy for work!”
The Library of Congress provides legislators and the public its wide range of historical documents, such as articles of nearly two dozen presidents and more than three dozen judges from the Supreme Court. It also contains collections of rare books, impressions and photographs, as well as precious artefacts – like a flute belonging to President James Madison, which the singer and rapper Lizzo played in a performance in 2022 organized by Hayden.
Trump's unexpected decision rendered the Democrats of the Congress, who initially disclosed the dismissal.
Connecticut representative Rosa Delauro, the best democrat of the Chamber's credit committee, said Hayden had been “dismissed” by Trump and asked for an explanation of the administration to explain why she had been dismissed.
The chief of the minority of the Hakeem Jeffries room, Dn.y., applauded Hayden as “an accomplished, principle and distinguished librarian”.
“Donald Trump's unfair decision to dismiss Dr. Hayden in an email sent by a random political hack is a shame and the last in his continuous effort to ban books, laundering American history and going back,” said Jeffries. “The congress library is the popular library. There will be a responsibility for this unprecedented assault against the American way of life as soon as possible. ”
New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, the best democrat in the Senate panel who oversees the library funding, said that the dismissal, which, according to him, came at 6:56 p.m., “took his assault on American libraries at a new level”.
While Trump “wants to ban books and tell the Americans what to read – or not to read at all, Dr. Hayden devoted his career to the reading and the pursuit of knowledge available to everyone,” added Heinrich.
Robert Newlen, the main assistant librarian, said that he would serve as an acting librarian from the “up to other instructions” in a separate email seen by the AP.
“I promise to keep everyone informed,” he wrote to colleagues.
During a gala on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio joked by saying that he had assumed three other positions in the Trump administration as a national security advisor, acting archivist and acting director of the American agency for international development. During his remarks during the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute event, he said that the Congress Library Directorate “would be a good job”, then paused and jokes the Florida representative Mario Diaz-Balart for this position.
“Do you know what would be good? Library of Congress. That would be a good job,” said Rubio. “The interim librarian Mario Diaz-Balart. Do you want this? “
