DOGE & The Library of Congress

Retired cataloging librarian new to this group. Any discussion so far on the potential effect of DOGE's downsizing of government institutions regarding specifically The Library of Congress & its potential effect on the ecology of libraries? On a secondary note, can the regime change have a direct impact on ALA (American Library Association)? Didn't see anything in the topics list here (after a quick scan) or msm. Thanks.

Speaking as a retired U.K. librarian I think that if those in charge of DOGE give it any thought, then they may try to make qualified librarians redundant as part of their general overrall strategy, in which case truth will have been taken hostage but there will be no ransom note. In the U.K. many public libraries are run by volunteers only, making the very idea of a professional, qualified librarian also redundant.

Let us hope that in the U.S.A. it does not come to that ...

>2 comsat38:

I'd no idea that was the state of UK public libraries, and hope that does not become the norm here in the US.

I’m worried about the National Archives. 🙁

The POTUS appoints the head of the Library of Congress (currently Carla Hayden) for a 10 year term, so I assume he can replace her at will with one of his favorites at Fox News. Since LC catalogs most titles for the nation's libraries, its administration can also selectively determine which titles do not require priority cataloging, e.g. titles unfavorable to Russia or DEI favorable, especially if cataloging funds are limited. LC cultural programs can be ended for economic reasons; LC websites could be closed en masse, as has been done with other government departments.

Or he could initiate procedures to privatize parts of LC & let Amazon do the cataloging.

>5 featherbear:

It's tricky. He appoints the head of the LC, but they have to be confirmed, and the LC sits outside the Executive branch—it's literally the library OF CONGRESS. So while they may do his bidding, executive actions do not apply to the LC.

>6 timspalding: But when haven't they? I have to agree, though, it might be trickier to do.

When haven't they what?

>8 timspalding: With one party controlling both Houses, Congress has passed all of the executive appointees up till now, despite their questionable backgrounds -- would replacing the head of a government institution under the ostensible control of Congress, thereby changing its administrative direction, really deviate from the policy patterns demonstrated by the controlling party so far? It appears that anything can be rationalized. Not to mention that the legal limits of executive power seem to be getting quite ambiguous; what's to stop the POTUS from seeing how far he can push the envelope & demonstrate his control of Congress?

>9 featherbear:

No, I agree, it's worrying. It's a peculiar situation. Let us hope that by the time Hayden steps down, Trump's wings have been clipped. But I imagine we can expect an absolutely dreadful appointee.

There may have been a post or two related to DOGE on ALA's Connect platform.

On a related note:

Jason R. Baron. Washington Monthly, 03/05/2025: Trump Fired the Archivist of the United States.

If someone tells you who they are believe them. Already so much is being done outside the Constitution and Human Rights.

I hope backup of information and archives outside of usual storage has taken place after the previous term. It is apparent to the world USA freedoms and traditions are under attack. The Library of Congress is the home of this freedom. Be watchful.

Meanwhile establish a false front position / role for the President with a special vault to honor his greatness. Doge would probably be instructed not to interfere.

Worldwide librarians and Governments would step up to help if asked. We are cheering for Freedom and the people of USA.

Response to timspalding
And do you feel that will stop a takeover? Trump works outside of legal perimetres in business and Government.
Hope for the best but start safety protocols now.

Julian Lucas. New Yorker, 03/14/2025: The Data Hoarders Resisting Trump’s Purge. "Can librarians and guerrilla archivists save the country’s files from DOGE?"

Alternative link from Twitter

Not LC, but does affect funding to state libraries:

Brianna Tucker & Emily Davies. WaPo, 03/15/2025: Trump moves to gut several agencies, targeting Voice of America, libraries. Temporarily Unlocked

Related:

Nicolas Riccardi. AP via NBC Connecticut News, 03/15/2025: Trump signs order to cut staff at Voice of America and other US-funded media organizations. "The latest reductions are especially provocative because the Agency for Global Media is an independent agency chartered by Congress, which passed a law in 2020 limiting the power of the agency's presidentially appointed executives. Trump has already taken several moves to gut congressionally-mandated programs, setting up a potential Supreme Court showdown over the limits of presidential power."

DOGE at IMLS https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/comments/1jfpwra/doge_is_at_the_institue_of_mus...

>18 timspalding:

And https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/comments/1jfrzf4/doge_is_scared_at_the_institut...

NPR: https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5335600/library-museum-funding-doge-sonderl...

ALA: https://www.ala.org/faq-executive-order-targeting-imls

James Folta. LitHub, 03/18/2025: Trump is trying to destroy libraries.

Leo S. Lo. Guardian, 03/21/2025: Trump’s attack on libraries was predictable. Its consequences could be devastating.

>19 lilithcat:

Thanks. Abigail is currently writing about it for SOTT. I'll direct her here too.

Not quite the magnitude of the LOC or IMLS, but the action regarding the Haskell library in Stanstead, Que., and Derby Line, Vt. is disheartening to say the least.

https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article829215.html

All very depressing; do you all think that maybe Presidential elections are a thing of the past?

>22 sqdancer:

Oh, that was a such an ugly-American situation.

Niha Masih. WaPo, 04/01/2025: Dozens of staff at agency that supports museums and libraries put on leave. "The Institute of Museum and Library Services is a key source of federal support for the nation’s museums and libraries. The move risks upending vital resources." Temporarily unlocked

Trump's executive order targeting ‘improper ideology’ at the Smithsonian

"In an executive order entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”, he directed the removal of “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” from its storied museums."

Associated Press. Guardian, 04/03/2025: US Naval Academy removes 400 books from library in anti-diversity purge.

Addendum: NYT, 04/04/2025: Read the Naval Academy’s list of removed books. Temporarily Unlocked

Paresh Dave & Louise Matsakis. Wired, 04/01/2025: The DOGE Axe Comes for Libraries and Museums. "The Institute of Museum and Library Services has long received bipartisan support. But after years of trying, President Donald Trump has delivered it a crushing blow."

Adria R. Walker. Guardian, 04/11/2025: Mississippi orders deletion of race and gender databases in state libraries. "Library commission says state ‘in dire shape’ and has ‘had a reconsideration of everything with regard to’ Doge."

This is what happens when you allow a convicted criminal to stand for the highest office in the land. The POTUS also claims that Ukraine started the war!!??!!

Tobi Raji & Samantha Chery. WaPo, 04/19/2025: DOGE team meets with National Gallery of Art leaders.

"It was not immediately clear what authority DOGE or the White House might have over the NGA, which was created by an act of Congress. A similar separation of powers has not stopped the administration from attempting to dissolve or reshape congressionally established agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, and many of DOGE’s budget slashing efforts have been challenged in federal lawsuits.

"The NGA is a public-private partnership that receives government funding for its upkeep, administrative expenses and operations, as outlined by the 1937 Act of Congress that established it. Most of the gallery’s jobs are also federally funded. In 2024, Congress appropriated $209 million to the museum.

"While it has a similar public-private funding structure to the Smithsonian Institution, the gallery has its own board of trustees and doesn’t have to share its federal appropriations across several institutions as the Smithsonian does, which has further cushioned the NGA from the financial setbacks that cultural centers have faced.

"Trump’s anti-DEI purge flies in the face of the gallery’s efforts in recent years to diversify its leadership and art exhibitions, catalyzed in part by the 2020 police killing of George Floyd and a national reckoning about institutional racism."

Dr. Carla D. Hayden, the first African-American and first woman to serve as the librarian of Congress, has been fired.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/2025/05/08/president-donald-trump-fires-...

https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/delauro-firing-li...

Seung Min Kim, Lisa Mascaro, & Zeke Miller. WaPo, 05/08/2025: President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. "President Donald Trump has abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda."

Well, he did it. He fired Hayden.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/05/08/congress/librarian-of-congress-...

I'm only surprised that it didn't happen earlier.

>35 DanieXJ: agreed.

It’s obviously terrible news, but my understanding is that 2 lawsuits challenging the decision on IMLS (1 from ALA and 1 from several state AGs) are looking promising.

In the meantime… ALA is holding a webinar on Monday, 5/12 to discuss next steps: https://elearning.ala.org/local/catalog/view/product.php?productid=1505 (looks like you need to have an account but not necessarily a membership to sign up?)

There’s also information on various ways (with varying time commitments) to advocate for libraries: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/show-up-for-our-libraries

I don’t mean to minimize Dr. Hayden’s dismissal at all—I was heartened to see this all from the ALA and thought I’d share.

Tim Balk. NYT, 05/08/2025, 05/09 upd: Trump Administration Fires Librarian of Congress. "Dr. Carla D. Hayden was the first African American and the first woman to serve as the head of the Library of Congress. Her firing drew a furious response from Democrats."

Buried under the Pope announcements; had to use search to find the story on the online site.

Nitish Pawa. Slate, 05/08/2025: Even George W. Bush Liked Libraries. "How the legal battle to get funding back for the Institute of Museum and Library Services is faring."

>38 featherbear:

He also liked librarians. Laura Bush was one.

Scott MacFarlane. CBS News, 05/11/2025: Trump fires director of U.S. Copyright Office, sources say.

"The firing of Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter came after Perlmutter and her office earlier this week issued part three of a lengthy report about artificial intelligence and expressed some concerns and questions about the usage of copyrighted materials by AI technology.

"Perlmutter had held the position since October 2020, during the first Trump Administration. She was appointed to the post by now former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who herself was fired by President Trump on Thursday.

"Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, said in a statement that Perlmutter's firing was "a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis."

"Morelle speculated that there was "surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk's efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models," in reference to the report released by the Copyright Office this week.

"Last month, Musk took to his social media platform X to seemingly express support for the abolition of intellectual property laws. Musk also owns AI startup xAI, with which in February he submitted a failed bid to purchase OpenAI, the company that operates ChatGPT.

"The U.S. Copyright Office, which has a staff of approximately 450 people, is a department of the Library of Congress. It is tasked with registering copyright claims, recording copyright ownership information and administering copyright law, among other things."

Kyle Melnick & Hannah Natanson. WaPo, 05/11/2025: White House fires head of Copyright Office amid Library of Congress shakeup. "Shira Perlmutter’s termination comes after her office this month released a report that raised concerns about using copyrighted materials to train AI." Temporarily Unlocked.

Hillel Italie. AP news, 05/12/2025: Deputy attorney general who defended Trump in hush money trial named acting Librarian of Congress.

Updated via WaPo, 05/12/2025: Deputy attorney general who defended Trump in hush money trial named acting librarian of Congress. Temporarily unlocked. Includes info on new acting register of copyrights.

Perry Stein & Meryl Kornfield. WaPo, 05/12/2025: Trump taps top Justice Dept. official to also head Library of Congress.

"The White House has not announced Blanche’s new role. Several Democratic members of Congress called Monday for more scrutiny of the White House’s interactions with the Library of Congress, while a lawyer who used to work with the agency said it could be problematic for the Justice Department to have visibility into communications between the library’s research arm and U.S. lawmakers.

"It is unclear how Blanche would shape the Library of Congress as its temporary leader. Two officials from his office at the Justice Department showed up to the library on Monday morning as part of the transition to Blanche’s leadership, the Justice Department official familiar with the situation said. Those two people will also simultaneously hold jobs in the Justice Department and the Library of Congress, this person said.

"The library’s Congressional Research Service serves as a nonpartisan think tank, providing research and analysis to members of Congress for national policymaking. And its Copyright Office reviews hundreds of thousands of applications each year, advises Congress on intellectual property issues and sets regulations across the country.

"Daniel Schuman, a former attorney for the Congressional Research Service, said access to the library’s materials would include a view into communications between congressional offices and attorneys and researchers stretching back decades, including requests for legal advice on legislation not yet filed.

"Robert Randolph Newlen — who became acting head of the Library of Congress after Hayden’s dismissal — wrote two notes to staffers Monday saying he was waiting to hear from Congress about the next steps in the leadership transition.

"“You may have read that the White House has named a new acting Librarian,” Newlen wrote, according to a copy of one note obtained by The Washington Post. “Currently Congress is engaged with the White House, and we have not yet received direction from Congress on how to move forward. We will share additional information as we receive it.”

"“There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday.

"Six Democratic members of Congress signed a letter to the Library of Congress’s inspector general on Monday calling for an investigation into whether the White House has had inappropriate communications with Library of Congress staff members, including the “unauthorized transfer of congressional or Library data to executive branch agencies and personnel.”

>41 featherbear: I imagine finding a Trumpishly inclined, qualified librarian would be nearly impossible.

Proud to be a resisting, protesting, persisting librarian.

It may be mentioned in one of the posted articles, but I want to point it out that Dr. Hayden's letter of termination addressed her not as Dr. Hayden, or Madame Librarian, or anything like that, but as Carla.

>44 Watry:

Of course. She's a black woman, and therefore not entitled to an honorific. (Snark, in case that's not obvious.)

>41 featherbear:

More on this: Officials Are Denied Access to Library of Congress After Trump Names New Boss: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/trump-library-of-congress.html?un...

Nikki McCann Ramirez, Aswain Suebsaeng, & Andrew Perez. Rolling Stone, 05/12/2025: Trump Is Trying to Take Control of Congress Through Its Library. "The Trump admin is trying to take over the Library of Congress, “a major component of the legislative branch” that confidentially advises lawmakers."

"The expert says the Trump administration is actively trying to place a landing team at the Library of Congress, noting that when Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has done this elsewhere, the first thing that team does is hoover up and gain control over as much sensitive data as possible.

"It is disputed what legality, if any, there is for Trump’s ongoing power grab at the Library of Congress. According to two sources familiar with the matter, even before the internal message was sent, library staff were told by superiors Monday morning to refrain from recognizing Trump’s new pick at this time, describing the power grab as possibly illegal.

"The expert on the Library of Congress says Perlmutter’s firing may be illegal — and more emphatically, that Trump “cannot name an acting librarian of Congress, because it’s not an executive-branch agency.”

"“Inside the Library of Congress, they’re all congressional staff, and congressional staff are protected under the speech or debate clause in the Constitution,” adds the expert, whom Rolling Stone agreed not to name.

"Moreover, they note that the Congressional Research Service (CRS), an agency within the Library of Congress, “provides confidential advice to Congress, including confidential legal advice, and there is a database that has all the questions that every member has asked for the last 50 years and the answers. That cannot be made available.”

"Other sensitive systems may be at risk of incursion by Trump officials. In a repetition of a now well-established pattern faced by other agencies and offices, the U.S. Copyright Office reportedly denied entry on Monday to two men claiming to be Trump’s new appointees to the office. Sources told Wired that Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves, who appear to work at the Justice Department, told Copyright Office staff they were the Copyright Office’s new acting director and deputy librarian, respectively.

"Another source familiar with the situation and another person briefed on it tell Rolling Stone that for weeks, Trump and other senior administration officials have wanted to examine and potentially ideologically reshape the library’s vast catalog, and to overhaul the types of events it has put on over years.

Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Hayden had been fired because “there were quite concerning things she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.”

A note on the firing of Carla Hayden:

Mary Beard (from the TLS current issue landing page). TLS, 05/16/2025: A world without DEI?

Maya C. Miller and Carl Hulse. NYT, 05/15/2025: Lawmakers in Both Parties Resist Trump’s Attempt to Seize Control of Their Library. Temporarily unlocked.

Seung Min Kim. AP News, 05/16/2025: Donald Trump’s Library of Congress fight is really about the separation of powers.

Paul Kane & Meryl Kornfield. WaPo, 05/13/2025: In rare move, Congress pushes back on Trump over Library of Congress. "Lawmakers are raising separation-of-powers concerns as the White House seeks to install a Justice Department official at the legislative-branch institution."

Meryl Kornfield and Hannah Natanson. WaPo, 05/31/2025: It’s called the Library of Congress. But Trump claims it’s his. Temporarily unlocked "The case is the latest example of efforts by the Trump administration to erase the traditional lines that separate the branches of government."

In somewhat related news:

Janay Kingsberry, Maura Judkis and Sophia Nguyen. WaPo, 05/30/2025: Trump says he fired museum director as his budget targets Smithsonian. "Without citing an authority for doing so, the president announced he terminated National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet. Meanwhile, his budget proposes slashing the Smithsonian’s Anacostia and Latino museums, according to an email." Temporarily Unlocked

>52 featherbear: I bet he has has yet another Fox news employee in mind to take over. Purely on merit, of course. Or a podcaster who railed against art, culture and the institution he'll head. US news is by now one continuous Onion publication happening for real.

Ramon Antonio Vargas. Guardian, 06/07/2025: Fired US librarian of Congress details callous dismissal in new interview.