We are, without question, one brisk step away from authoritarianism.
With his latest power grab, Donald Trump has made it clear: nothing is sacred—not even the Library of Congress. What was once a revered institution of learning, recordkeeping, and nonpartisan research is now under siege by a man whose ambitions know no legal or constitutional bounds.
Let’s be clear: the Library of Congress is not just a library. It is a vital pillar of our legislative branch, housing the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which provides confidential legal and policy analysis for lawmakers, and the U.S. Copyright Office, which protects intellectual property.
It’s not just a building filled with books—it’s the brain trust of Congress. And Trump wants to own it.
This hostile takeover began with an illegal and abrupt attempt to fire Dr. Carla Hayden, the first Black woman to serve as Librarian of Congress, well before her 10-year term is up. In her place, Trump attempted to install Todd Blanche, his personal criminal defense lawyer and the current deputy attorney general, acting Librarian.
That alone should set off every alarm bell in the nation. Blanche isn’t a librarian. He’s not even a historian. He’s Trump’s fixer. The very idea of him overseeing an institution dedicated to objective truth and scholarly integrity is as absurd as it is dangerous.
And Congress knows it. Staff at the Library of Congress immediately pushed back, refusing to recognize Blanche’s appointment and alerting Capitol Police when two Justice Department officials tried to force their way into the Copyright Office. According to reports, they arrived with a letter from the White House claiming authority, but the Library’s staff stood their ground.
Because here’s the truth: Trump cannot appoint an acting Librarian of Congress without congressional approval. The Library of Congress is a legislative branch agency. It’s protected under Article I of the Constitution—not subject to executive control. The Speech or Debate Clause explicitly shields congressional staff from executive interference. And yet, Trump, in typical fashion, is bulldozing through the law in broad daylight.
This isn’t about DEI. This isn’t about “inappropriate books for children.” The Library of Congress doesn’t even lend books to children; it’s a research facility, not a local branch. No, this is about power.
Trump and his allies are attempting to get their hands on decades of sensitive congressional inquiries, legal analyses, and policy recommendations held by the CRS. They’re attempting to exfiltrate that data, just as they’ve done in other government agencies, through Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This is data that could be used to manipulate legislation, intimidate lawmakers, and dismantle the legislative branch from the inside out.
Congressman Joseph Morelle (D-NY) and Senator Alex Padilla(D-Calif.) said it best: this is a “power-hungry assault on the legislative branch.” And still, many Republicans remain silent. Are they complicit? Confused? Or simply too afraid to challenge the authoritarian tide sweeping through the Capitol?
Trump’s desire to “remake” the Library of Congress is part of a broader mission: to place every branch of government under his thumb. We’ve seen this before. From attacking the judiciary, to undermining the press, to weaponizing the Department of Justice—Trump has consistently sought to consolidate power. But this, this strikes at the very balance of our constitutional democracy. If the legislative branch loses its autonomy, we no longer have a functioning democracy—we have a dictatorship in slow motion.
The forced removal of Shira Perlmutter, head of the Copyright Office, is equally alarming. Her only crime—publishing a report warning tech companies about the legal limits of scraping data for AI training. It wasn’t politically convenient, so she was gone. Just like that. And now, Trump’s people are installing loyalists to steer one of the most influential cultural and legal repositories in the world toward partisan ends.
Make no mistake—this isn’t just a coup at a library. This is the federal government being dismantled, brick by brick, by a man who sees governance not as a service to the people, but as a means of control. This is a president who is attempting to erase the line between the executive and the legislative branch, an act that is not just unprecedented—it’s unconstitutional.
The courts must act. Congress must act. The people must act. Because if the Library of Congress falls, what’s next, the National Archives? We have already seen them attempt to whiten up the Smithsonian, but what’s truly next is your right to know the truth.
We are watching, in real time, a democracy unravel. And if we don’t fight back—if we don’t defend institutions like the Library of Congress from this authoritarian creep—we will wake up one day and realize we no longer live in a democracy at all.
This isn’t just about books. This is about power, precedent, and whether we still believe in the rule of law. The Library of Congress was built to serve the people, not the president. And no one, not even Donald Trump, is above the Constitution.
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Trump’s Brazen Takeover Of The Library Of Congress Is Another Direct Threat To Democracy
was originally published on
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