Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden fired by President Trump

By SEUNG MIN KIM LISA MASCARO and ZEKE MILLER WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden as the White House continues to purge the federal governing body of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda Related Articles How Google became the internet giant at the center of a ruling body crackdown David Souter dies a Republican who became a liberal darling as Supreme Court justice Lawmakers slam plan to use Bay Area military site for immigration detention facility Chabria Trump s Alcatraz fantasy reveals his nostalgia for unrestrained policing Trump says he is naming Fox News host and former judge Jeanine Pirro as top federal prosecutor in DC Hayden was notified in a two-sentence email late Thursday from the White House s Presidential Personnel Office according to an email obtained by The Associated Press Authenticated by the Senate to the job in Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress Carla the email reported On behalf of President Donald J Trump I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective promptly Thank you for your amenity A spokesperson for the Library of Congress substantiated that the White House recounted Hayden she was dismissed Hayden whose -year term was set to expire next year had come under attack from a conservative advocacy group that had vowed to root out those standing in the way of Trump s agenda The group American Accountability Foundation accused her and other library leaders of promoting children s books with radical content and literary material authored by Trump opponents The current LibrarianOfCongress Carla Hayden is woke anti-Trump and promotes trans-ing kids AAF noted on its X account earlier Thursday just hours before the firing was made general It s time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job All around the establishment Trump has been weeding out representatives who he believes don t align with his agenda from the Justice Department to the Pentagon and beyond At times the firings come after conservative voices single out executives for criticism Earlier Thursday the acting administrator of the Federal Urgency Management Agency was pushed out one day after he had testified that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle the organization Trump has suggested that individual states not FEMA should take the lead on responding to hurricanes tornadoes and other crises At the Pentagon more than a half-dozen top general officers have been fired since January including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen CQ Brown Jr The only two women serving as four-star officers as well as a disproportionate number of other senior female officers have also been fired The unexpected move Thursday against Hayden infuriated congressional Democrats who initially disclosed the firing Enough is enough mentioned Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York who called Hayden a trailblazer a scholar and a populace servant of the highest order Connecticut Rep Rosa DeLauro the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee explained Hayden was callously fired by Trump and demanded an explanation from the administration as to why she was dismissed Hayden has spent her entire career serving people from helping kids learn to read to protecting selected of our nation s most of precious treasures mentioned Rep Joseph Morelle of New York the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee that oversees the Library She is an American hero he noted The Library of Congress with its stately buildings across from the U S Capitol holds a vast collection of the nation s books and history which it makes available to the constituents and lawmakers It houses the papers of nearly two dozen presidents and more than three dozen Supreme Court justices It also has collections of rare books prints and photographs as well as troves of music and valuable artifacts like a flute owned by President James Madison which the singer and rapper Lizzo played in a performance arranged by Hayden The Democratic leaders praised Hayden who had been the longtime leader of Baltimore s library system for a tenure that helped modernize the Library and make it more accessible with initiatives into rural communities and online She is a graduate of Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries D-N Y applauded Hayden as an accomplished principled and distinguished Librarian of Congress Donald Trump s unjust decision to fire Dr Hayden in an email sent by a random political hack is a disgrace and the latest in his ongoing effort to ban books whitewash American history and turn back the clock Jeffries declared The Library of Congress is the People s Library There will be accountability for this unprecedented assault on the American way of life sooner rather than later he declared New Mexico Sen Martin Heinrich the top Democrat on the Senate panel that oversees funding for the library commented the firing which he noted came at p m was taking his assault on America s libraries to a new level Dr Hayden has devoted her career to making reading and the pursuit of knowledge available to everyone he declared Robert Newlen the principal deputy librarian noted he would serve as acting librarian of Congress until further instruction in a separate email seen by the AP I promise to keep everyone informed he wrote to colleagues Hayden spoke lately of how libraries changed her own life and opened her to the world Libraries are the great equalizer she posted on X during National Library Week last month And when you have a free constituents library in particular she explained it s an opportunity center for people all walks of life and you are giving them the opportunity to make choices on which information entertainment and inspiration means the majority to them