The Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump from replacing a top official at the Library of Congress for now, deferring a decision on his emergency appeal until it resolves a pair of related cases.
The move, which came weeks after the appeal was filed and included little explanation, means that Shira Perlmutter will remain the director of the US Copyright Office despite a request from Trump to remove her immediately.
Justice Clarence Thomas, a member of the court’s conservative wing, said he would have granted Trump’s request to allow Perlmutter to be removed while the case is litigated.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly allowed the president to temporarily remove – and therefore control – agencies on the periphery of the executive branch. But the latest case involved a new twist: A government entity that has the word “Congress” in its title and that Perlmutter argued was part of the legislative branch.
“Today, the administration’s unlawful executive overreach was not greenlit by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which represented Perlmutter. “We are pleased that the Court deferred the government’s motion to stay our court order in a case that is critically important for rule of law, the separation of powers, and the independence of the Library of Congress.”
The Justice Department declined to comment for this story.
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