President Donald Trump appointed Todd Blanche, who is second in charge at the Justice Department, as the new librarian of Congress.
Before being tapped for the DOJ, Blanche served as Trump’s defense lawyer during his hush money trial, in which Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The DOJ confirmed Blanche’s nomination to the Washington Examiner. The appointment came after Trump fired Carla Hayden, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2015 and was the first Black woman to hold the position, on Friday. Republicans celebrated Hayden’s termination, saying she pushed liberal ideology in children’s books.
However, Robert Randolph Newlen, who became acting librarian after Hayden was fired, disputed that a change of power occurred.
“Congress is engaged with the White House, and we have not received direction from Congress about how to move forward,” Newlen said in an internal email to Library of Congress staffers.
Republicans celebrated Hayden’s termination, saying she pushed liberal ideology in children’s books.
“The current #LibrarianOfCongress Carla Hayden is woke, anti-Trump and promotes trans-ing kids,” the American Accountability Foundation said in a post on X. “It’s time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job.”
TRUMP FIRES LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS CARLA HAYDEN, OUTRAGING DEMOCRATS
Blanche’s nomination contributed to a growing trend of top Trump administration officials holding multiple positions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is serving as national security adviser, and FBI Director Kash Patel was briefly in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives before the Trump administration tapped Daniel Driscoll for the position.
On Monday, Trump also fired the head of the Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter.
