After Failing to Win a Restraining Order, Former Register of Copyrights Seeks to Fast Track Lawsuit Over Her Firing
Calling her firing "blatantly illegal," former Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter is now seeking to expedite a summary judgment, over the objections of Trump administration lawyers.
A federal judge has set a status conference for June 3 to determine next steps in a lawsuit filed by Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter that seeks to block her firing, as well as the appointment of Trump loyalist Todd Blanche as acting Librarian of Congress.
The move comes after judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, denied Perlmutter’s bid for a Temporary Restraining Order after a hearing on May 28, and invited Perlmutter to re-file a motion for a preliminary injunction. Perlmutter, however, instead filed a motion for summary judgment on May 29, and moved for the case to be heard on an expedited basis.
“Although the Court denied Plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order on May 28, 2025, based on its view that Plaintiff did not establish irreparable harm, there remains a pressing need for both the parties and the public to obtain a speedy resolution of this matter, as the leadership of the Library of Congress and the Copyright Office will remain in dispute until the legality of Defendants’ actions is adjudicated on the merits,” Perlmutter’s filing states. “It would best serve judicial economy and the interests of the parties to proceed to final judgment.”
However, if an expedited summary judgment is "unavailable," lawyers for Perlmutter requested a conference with the Defendants to determine “a schedule for briefing a preliminary injunction.” The June 3 conference suggests that a motion for a preliminary injunction is likely forthcoming.
Perlmutter had sought a schedule that would have had the motion for summary judgment fully briefed and ready for a hearing by June 16—a fast track, to be sure.
A move for a quick ruling on summary judgment makes legal sense, as the dispute revolves around a question of law—whether the president has the authority, by the constitution or by statute—to carry out the hiring and firing at issue in the case.
In a May 30 filing, lawyers for the Trump administration opposed the move for an expedited summary judgment.
“The expedited summary judgment schedule Plaintiff proposes is not just unwarranted, but it would do a disservice to this Court’s ability to fully consider the issues in this litigation,” administration lawyers argue. “Indeed, this Court expressed its view during the hearing that this case raises difficult legal issues… Having declined this Court’s invitation to pursue a preliminary injunction motion, Plaintiff should not be permitted to force summary judgment briefing to proceed on the fast-track schedule she proposes without being able to show the threat of imminent irreparable harm that normally justifies such highly expedited proceedings.”
“Congress vested the Librarian of Congress—not the President—with the power to appoint, and therefore to remove, the Register of Copyrights,” the complaint asserts, also disputing the president's authority to name an acting Librarian of Congress.
In response, Trump administration lawyers argue that the Library of Congress is part of the executive branch, and thus the hiring and firing at issue are within the president’s purview.
“The general rule is that the power to remove tracks the power to appoint; thus, the Librarian normally has the power to remove the Register. But if there is no Librarian and the President cannot designate an acting Librarian (as Plaintiff argues), then the President’s removal authority extends to inferior officers like the Register.”
Multiple lawyers have told Words & Money that that the Library of Congress is not part of the executive branch, and that the president does not have the constitutional or statutory authority to appoint an Acting Librarian of Congress nor to hire or fire the Register of Copyrights.
Meanwhile, at press time it appears that Robert Newlen, Hayden's deputy, remains in charge at the Library of Congress, despite Trump's appointment of Blanche.
